OLD 
 SQUIRE 
 
 ==* D l^ ^P* 
 S D.IV. 7 
 
 BENSON 

 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 SAN DIEGO
 
 MACMILLAN'S STANDARD LIBRARY 
 
 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF A BLACK VIRGINIAN
 
 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF A BLACK VIRGINIAN 
 
 BY 
 
 B. K. BENSON 
 ^, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "WHO GOES THKRK ? " "A FRIEND WITH THB 
 COUNTERSIGN," " BAYAKO'S COURIER," TC. 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP 
 PUBLISHERS
 
 COPTBWHT, 1908, 
 
 BT THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 
 
 Set up and electrotyped. Published April, 1903. Reprinted 
 April, 1909. 
 
 XorfaooB Jprrss 
 
 J. 8. Cushlng Co. Berwick & Smith Co. 
 Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
 
 Not to fcefenti slaberg but to too 
 justice to slabes
 
 NOTE 
 
 WHEREIN this book departs from history, characters 
 are affected rather than events. 
 
 Historically, the negro Barney a fictitious name 
 must be considered only as the guide of the Union column 
 in February-March, 1864; the actions ascribed to him 
 before that time are purely inventional; in respect to 
 these actions he is but a type differing from that which 
 the main character shows; in other words, Barney is a 
 foil to "Old Squire." 
 
 B. K. B. 
 
 vii
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER FAG 
 
 I. FORWARD AND BACKWARD 1 
 
 II. A LAST RESORT 13 
 
 in. SANCTUARY 29 
 
 IV. A SONG SIGNAL 42 
 
 V. DELINQUENCY 54 
 
 VI. DEEP WATER 68 
 
 VII. A LIVE PUZZLE 80 
 
 VIII. DAHLGREN 91 
 
 IX. A CASE OF KNOWING . .' . . . 109 
 
 X. SOLUTION 122 
 
 XL APART 131 
 
 XII. AWAITING THE VERDICT 144 
 
 XIII. BARNEY 148 
 
 XIV. THE MEETING 163 
 
 XV. O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 181 
 
 XVI. UNSTABLE AS WATER 196 
 
 XVII. WAYS CONVERGING 213 
 
 XVIII. BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 226 
 
 XIX. IN THE MOUNTAINS 240 
 
 XX. A HOME-COMING 259 
 
 XXI. THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 277 
 
 XXII. ARMED NEUTRALITY 299 
 
 a.
 
 X CONTENTS 
 
 OHAITXB PAGK 
 
 XXIII. THE PARTISANS . . . . . . .312 
 
 XXIV. THE RETREAT . . 325 
 
 XXV. A FLASK FOR Two 337 
 
 XXVI. FOR LIFE AND LOVE > y 349 
 
 XXVIL ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 365 
 
 XXVIII. IN THE NICK OF TIME 379 
 
 XXIX. THE FIVE HUNDRED 389 
 
 XXX. WHERE GLORY LED 408 
 
 XXXI. FATE'S DISCHARGES . . . . . . .420 
 
 XXXII. No GREATER LOVE . , 427 
 
 MAPS 
 
 1. GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN . 141 
 
 2. UP THE RAPPAHANNOCK 373 
 
 3. NORTHEASTERN VIRGINIA , 403
 
 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF A BLACK VIRGINIAN
 
 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD 
 
 " Of many worthy fellows that were out." SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 A GROUP of horsemen had come out of the Ashby pike, 
 and were making their way toward Hopewell Gap in the 
 Bull Run Mountains. A dweller at a distance from 
 the road counted four men, and said that they were 
 Confederate cavalrymen trying to rejoin Stuart's column, 
 which had passed on a road farther south many hours 
 previously ; and he was correct in regard to numbers 
 and purpose, though only three parts right in his 
 classification. 
 
 " Mahs Chahley, how come you don't tek up yo' geahth ? 
 Dat saddle dess a-fixin' to th'ow you dat it is. Ef you 
 dess wait a minute I's a-gwine to git righ' down an' 
 tighten dat geahth, feh de good book hit say tek heed 
 least ye fall." 
 
 " All right, Squire . . . Boys, don't halt ; I'll catch 
 up with you in no time." And Charley Armstrong drew 
 rein, and flung his left boot across his horse's neck. 
 
 " Not too tight now, Squire. Remember there's a hun- 
 dred and eighty pounds on this saddle."
 
 2 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Dat de troof, Mahs Chahley ; dat w'at mek him ben' 
 so in de middle, an' git jo' geahth so loose ; you mek two 
 o' ole Squiah, feh sho'. I'll dess tek it up a leetle bit," 
 muttered the negro, who had dismounted and now had his 
 white head almost under the horse's belly. "Hit's de 
 Gawd's troof, Mahs Chahley ; dis is a good hoss, but he 
 so nahrow in de innahds of 'im dat it tek a mighty shawt 
 geahth to retch roun' dat it do ; but I 'spec' he kin run 
 feh who las' de longes'. Whah did Mahs Dan git dese 
 bosses ? " 
 
 " They're his carriage team ; . . . going to ride the 
 other himself ; . . . bought cheaper ones to send away 
 the folks." 
 
 " Yassah ; I done heahd about dat, but whahbouts was 
 de critteh raised, Mahs Chahley ? " 
 
 "Down on Morgan's place in Augusta County, I sup- 
 pose, where he's got plenty more. Good Lord, I do hope 
 our folks will be safe there." 
 
 " Yassah ; hit's de Gawd's blessin', too. Wen I tole 
 Judy good-by aw'ile ago I's mighty proud 'at she gwine 
 whah she be safe, an' not be 'bleege' to run f'om dem 
 mise'ble Yankees no mo'e dat I is. Who dat a-comin' 
 yandeh th'ough de fiel' ? " 
 
 Armstrong looked to his weapons, for at the north, 
 riding rapidly, in a course evidently calculated for cutting 
 off their march, was a single horseman. 
 
 " I 'spec' he's one o' ouah men," said Squire, doubtfully. 
 
 " I don't know. That don't look like a Confederate 
 horse." 
 
 " Yassah, but some o' ouah men is got good bosses, Mahs
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD 8 
 
 Chahley, an' den ag'in I dunno w'at dess one Yankee'd be 
 a-doin' out sheah by hese'f all alone ; he betteh be a-gittin' 
 fuddeh, feh all de res' of 'em is done gawn, an' I wisht 'at 
 dey'd stay gawn, too dat I does. I tell you who dat is ; 
 he Mahs Usheh Wes', yah, yah, Mahs Chahley, you 
 dunno him? I mighty s'prised at shu, Mahs Chahley, 
 feh not knowin' Mahs Usheh ! " and the old negro's mouth 
 twinkled still. " But I dess tell you, honey, dem Mosby 
 men izh sho' got good bosses dat dey is." 
 
 The horseman shouted, and Armstrong replied to a 
 voice which he recognized. 
 
 " Hit's Mahs Usheh, dess lak I tole you he wus," said 
 Squire. 
 
 " Why, hello, Usher ! Thought you'd given it up ! " 
 
 " I've decided to go as far as Haymarket," said the 
 horseman, reining in ; " the major went last night though, 
 and I'm afraid I won't catch him." 
 
 Usher West was of some twenty -eight or thirty years 
 of age, of medium size, and fair complexion, with a short 
 sandy beard on lip, cheek, and chin ; his dress, unlike 
 Armstrong's dirty gray uniform, was that of the rural 
 civilian ; he looked the average son of the average farmer, 
 mounted upon a sleek bay which, however, showed no sign 
 of farm work. The man was without arms, so far as 
 could be seen, and none of his appointments in dress or 
 in trappings indicated military intention. He was a 
 typical " Mosby's man " a member of the band of parti- 
 san rangers that gathered at the call of their leader to 
 swoop down upon the Federal outposts at night, by day 
 to scatter and return to their homes.
 
 4 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " You'll never catch Mosby, Usher. Better try it with 
 
 u/" 
 
 " Think too much of myself. What's become of Sency 
 and Joe? I saw 'em back yonder." 
 
 " On ahead," returned Armstrong, waving his hand 
 toward the east. " And Morgan is coming too. How are 
 all at home this morning ? " 
 
 " All well, thank you. But how do you expect Morgan 
 to catch you?" and West's tone conveyed implication 
 that Morgan had a difficult task before him. 
 
 " He's going to cut across and head us off before we 
 reach the river." 
 
 " Pretty big risk. How is his brother ? " 
 
 " Well, I don't know ; there's a chance that he'll pull 
 through, and we're hoping to get some Yankee surgeon to 
 come for him." 
 
 "Good idea. They can do him more good than we 
 can," responded West, in a matter-of-fact way. 
 
 " Yes, and not only that ; our folks are leaving, and 
 can't take him; he couldn't stand it." 
 
 " So I heard. . . . When do they leave ? " 
 
 " Just as soon as they can get Dan's brother off ; to- 
 morrow, I hope." 
 
 "Charley, would you have believed that two people 
 could look so much alike ? When I first saw that Yankee, 
 lying there almost dead, I pledge you my word I thought 
 he was Dan himself." 
 
 " I reckon you did. I saw Andrew more than once and 
 could have sworn he was Dan," cried Armstrong, bring- 
 ing his hand down on his thigh with a great slap.
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD 6 
 
 " Andrew ? I heard the Yank's name was Dan, too ; 
 but I didn't believe it." 
 
 " Well, it was ; but his right name is Andrew, I tell 
 you." 
 
 " I don't know what in the name o' sense you mean," 
 and West's voice contained as great wonder as was spoken 
 by his words. 
 
 " Well, it was this way : there were twin boys ; you 
 couldn't tell 'em apart. And now that they are men, you 
 can't tell 'era apart. Can you, Squire ? " 
 
 " No, sah. Can't nobody tell 'em apaht w'en dey ain't 
 togeatheh, 'scusin' hit be ole Juno." 
 
 " When they were about three years old, a man comes 
 along ; you see their parents were dead and their uncle 
 had 'em ; when they were three years old a man comes 
 along, and to save your life you can't guess what his name 
 was!" 
 
 " Morgan ? " cried West. 
 
 "His name was Daniel Morgan." 
 
 " Well, that's nothing strange. I know three men by 
 that name, myself." 
 
 " Yes, maybe you do ; but this one was a rich old fellow 
 who took a fancy to little Dan and adopted him. But 
 after all, he got the wrong one." 
 
 " And got mad about it afterwards ? " 
 
 " Knew nothin' about it. Never did know. He's dead." 
 
 " Well, but didn't his uncle know ? " 
 
 "No thought old man Morgan had taken Dan, and 
 old man Morgan he carried Andy away, thinkin' he was 
 Dan ; of course it was all the same to him ; he raised him
 
 6 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 and he went by the name of Daniel; so now you have two 
 Daniel Morgans, twin brothers, just alike. How does that 
 strike you ? " 
 
 " Sounds like a book, doesn't it, Squire ? " 
 
 " Yassah, hit do f eh true, Mahs Usheh ; hit soun' lak de 
 good book, w'at say de fust gwine to be de las' an' de las' 
 hit gwine to be de fust," the old man quoted with due 
 solemnity. 
 
 " Yes, but hold on. How could there be two Dans ? 
 Didn't you say his uncle thought his boy was Andrew? " 
 
 " Well, you see old man Morgan he lived in New York. 
 Now, Mr. Berry that's Dan's uncle that raised him 
 never could get a word from old man Morgan, and then he 
 thought he'd change his boy's name to Dan, because they 
 wanted the name to last, don't you see ? " 
 
 "Oh, Lord, Armstrong, that's too deep for me. 
 Which is the right one now ? " 
 
 " Well, Mrs. Berry, you know, she was the one that 
 knew all the time ; she let Andy go instead of Dan, and 
 you can swear she kept mighty mum." 
 
 44 And she told at last ? " 
 
 44 When she couldn't hold in, she did. But you know 
 Andy never knew any better, and so he went into the 
 Yankee army." 
 
 44 Yes ; and he was shot in last Sunday's fight, and your 
 folks took him into the house, and I know all the rest of 
 it." 
 
 They had come to a halt where a narrow lane, running 
 south, left the main road. 
 
 44 Good -by, Charley," said Usher; 44 this is my way to go
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD 7 
 
 if ever I can reach Mosby; but I tell you now, I'm not 
 going farther than Haymarket. If I can learn nothing 
 there, I'm coming back home." 
 
 " You know all of Lee's infantry have crossed long ago, 
 and it'll be all we can do to catch Stuart before he goes 
 over. Come with ws, Usher." Armstrong said the 
 words earnestly ; there was but one man for whom he had 
 greater good-will Usher's father himself. 
 
 " No ; can't do that. Wish I could, though. Like to 
 be with you all again. Regards to Sency and Joe. Good- 
 by and good luck to you, old man," and Usher West rode 
 off upon the narrow lane, while Squire with his young 
 master continued to follow their advance, who had already 
 outstripped them so far as to reach the Aldie pike, having 
 taking a road running northeastward. 
 
 " Dat yotheth hoss w'at Mahs Dan kep' feh hese'f, he de 
 pie print o' dis un you's on, Mahs Chahley." 
 
 Armstrong was silent ; his thought was elsewhere. 
 Last night he had seen Jennie West, and though his 
 urgent love-making had met with little success, her refusal 
 had not been such as to make him despair. There is a 
 time for all things : a time when hqpe refuses to go ; a 
 time when an intonation will destroy it. Armstrong was 
 a man of immense vitality, yet one of those men whose 
 spirits are acted upon without apparent causes a man 
 who at the bending of a straw would feel elation or mis- 
 ery, according to the degree or direction of the slant. 
 Jennie had indeed meant to refuse definitively, but the 
 girl had so disliked to grieve that the mere trembling of 
 her voice had given encouragement.
 
 8 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " How you gwine to tell dezhe yeah bosses apaht, Mahs 
 Chahley ? " asked Squire from the rear. " Dey mus' be 
 twin brothehs, des lak Mahs Dan an' dat yotheh Mahs 
 Dan w'at we thought wus Mahs Dan hese'f." 
 
 "Oh, no, Squire; the horses are very different -pretty 
 good matches for a carriage team, though. What's be- 
 come of Joe and George ? They must have turned 
 off." 
 
 " Yassah ; dey done tuhned off up de yotheh road dat 
 runs to de ribeh. I 'spec' dey sees Ginnle Stuaht's tracks 
 is done tuhned off up dat a- way." 
 
 Joe Lewis and George Sency had not turned off ; they 
 had ridden on southeastward, Lewis merely dropping a 
 green sprig in the fork. "They'll know that's the way 
 for 'em to go," said he ; " they know it anyhow, without 
 tellin'." 
 
 " Half a mile will do," said Sency. 
 
 " Yes, an' maybe less'n that ; from the top o' that hill 
 yonder I'm a-thinkin' we can see fur enough. But what's 
 the use for you to go at all, George ? Might as well save 
 your hoss an' wait till I git back." 
 
 "No," said Sency; "I'll go with you." 
 
 "Tell you what, George, I hate leavin' Morgan back 
 yonder to come on by himself." 
 
 " Yes, so do I ; but nothing else would satisfy him. I 
 hope he'll overtake us before we cross the Potomac ; he'll 
 be in great danger unless he can fall in with some party or 
 other." 
 
 " He's boun' to ketch us to-morrow if he gits his busi- 
 ness in shape so he can make a start ; but, George, I'm
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD & 
 
 a-thinkin' that brother o' his'll never git well ; he looks 
 middlin' weak to me." 
 
 Sency replied with a nod. He was a slight fellow, 
 thoughtful, earnest, almost intense. This was Sergeant 
 Morgan's most valued friend, a discreet and upon neces- 
 sity a daring man, one who could think for the best and 
 would act regardless of danger. The other man, Lewis, 
 was older, and far more formidable to look at, yet he had 
 the air of relying on his comrade's judgment ; both were 
 veterans in service. 
 
 "An' then to think that he ain't able to talk. By 
 George ! It's the strangest case I ever heard tell of. 
 There was this Dan Morgan in the Yankee army, an' our 
 Dan Morgan in our army, an' nary one a-knowin' about 
 the other. You believe they've got the thing straight 
 now, George ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; Mrs. Berry knew all about the twins, and 
 knew when they were separated. The other one's name 
 is Andy, she says ; but I don't suppose he knows it yet." 
 
 " It beats my times ! . . . That old man Morgan that 
 took Andy and called him Dan must ha' been a queer old 
 case." 
 
 Sency looked grave, and more ; a sudden cloud had 
 overspread his features, an expression caused by tense 
 concentration of his perceptive powers upon a single 
 point. "What is it, George ? " asked Lewis, who had not 
 been unobservant of the change. 
 
 Sency seized Lewis's bridle, and led to the left, where 
 thick bushes skirted the roadside. Hardly had they 
 reached the sheltering thickets when hoof-beats became
 
 10 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 distinct . . . another moment and the noise had swelled 
 and they knew that cavalry were advancing west. 
 They dismounted ; each held his horse's mouth. Now, in 
 the road, the sunlight fell on blue uniforms and bright 
 metal, and the steady rolling mutter of many hoofs was 
 pierced by higher irregular notes as the nearing column 
 came iron striking stone; scabbard clanking; and then, 
 filling the road, there passed westward a company of 
 Federal cavalry, with a large forage wagon and an ambu- 
 lance, followed by a strong rear-guard. 
 
 Sency had waited until the last man was out of earshot; 
 then he signalled, and the two rode through forest and 
 field northwestwardly. 
 
 Meantime, Armstrong and Squire had reached the 
 branch road. 
 
 " Dat's dess whah dey gawn to, Mahs Chahley ; dat 
 bresh hit's a-pintin' to us to tek dat fawk." 
 
 " Yes, but I don't think they've taken it." 
 
 " No, no, sah. Dey's gawn down de road a piece to see 
 ef de's any trouble down dat a-way. But shu'll see 'em 
 a-comin' awn behime us toreckly. Dey done tole us wi' 
 dat bresh which a-way dey's a-gwine to go." 
 
 "We'd better go slow, Squire, until they overtake us." 
 
 Suiting action to word they brought their horses to a 
 slow walk, and at times halted and looked back. Arm- 
 strong was not without fear, however, that his comrades 
 had passed on, and was about to quicken his pace when 
 he heard hoofs in his rear. 
 
 "There they are at last, Squire," he said, without 
 turning.
 
 FORWARD AND BACKWARD 11 
 
 But the negro had turned, and had seen ; in an instant 
 he turned again, and gave his horse the spur. " Run, 
 Mahs Chahley ! " he cried, as he forged momentarily past 
 the long bay; and as Armstrong caught the word, he, too, 
 pressed on. 
 
 A shot whistled over their heads, but there was no 
 pursuit. The Federals, while passing the mouth of the 
 branch road, had seen horsemen whose flight advertised 
 their colour and tendency, and without orders Private 
 O'Donnell had let drive with his carbine, for which act he 
 was not only sternly reprimanded by his captain, but 
 ordered to do double vedette duty the command was 
 on special service and must not be diverted by small 
 causes. 
 
 Old Squire and his young master had made but half 
 a mile when they saw Sency and Lewis waiting for 
 them. 
 
 "They took a crack at you, did they, Squire?" asks 
 Joe. 
 
 " Yassah, but ole Squiah still stickin' togeatheh, sah. 
 Dey was a whole roadful of 'em, sah." 
 
 " Did you see them ? " asked Armstrong. 
 
 " Saw a whole company," Lewis replied. 
 
 "Armstrong," said Sency, "somebody ought to go 
 back. Very likely those people are bound for Middleburg, 
 and Morgan ought to be warned." 
 
 " Well, let's all go back then." 
 
 " No ; I don't think that's the best way. One man can 
 manage it better than four." 
 
 "Then I'm the man, George."
 
 12 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " No, Armstrong ; we'd better " and Sency paused, 
 having barely glanced at Squire. 
 
 " Yassah," said the old man, interpreting; "you is dess 
 right, Mahs Jawge ; ole Squiah kin go back, an' nobody '11 
 nuweh know nothin' about it ; dey won't nobody pay no 
 'tention to ole Squiah. You dess let ole Squiah alone feh 
 dat." 
 
 " He's right," said Armstrong. 
 
 It was arranged that the negro should return at once to 
 the Armstrong place, and secretly inform the Confederate 
 soldier there of the advance of the Federal cavalry. 
 Meantime, the three were to continue their march slowly, 
 in the hope that Morgan and Squire would overtake them 
 before the Potomac should be reached.
 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 A LAST RESORT 
 
 " Abhonon. Do you call, sir ? 
 Provost. Here's a fellow will help you." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 CAPTAIN ROBERTUS L. K. FREEMAN had been ordered 
 to march his company from Fairfax Court-House, through 
 Aldie, into Loudoun Valley. The orders given to Captain 
 Freeman were specific. 
 
 First, he must learn whether on the Ashby's Gap turn- 
 pike, west of Aldie as far as Goose Creek, there was any 
 considerable force of the enemy. This order was conse- 
 quent upon ignorance of the position and movements of 
 the Confederate cavalry under Stuart. Swell's corps was 
 in Pennsylvania, while Hill's and Longstreet's were in 
 Maryland, with Hooker moving at their right. Stuart 
 had begun his ride between the Federal army and Bal- 
 timore, but had only begun it, so that no Federal 
 authority knew the magnitude of the movement. On 
 the preceding night Stuart had passed through Glasscock 
 Gap eastwardly, and beyond the Occoquan would turn 
 toward the Potomac to strike Hooker's communications. 
 
 According to the second order, Captain Freeman must 
 proceed to the ground near Middleburg (avoiding Middle- 
 
 13
 
 14 OLD SQUIBE 
 
 burg if possible and necessary), where the cavalry action 
 of June 21 had been fought, and endeavour to give 
 relief to any wounded Federals who might be found 
 there ; particularly was he to learn the fate of Lieutenant 
 Daniel Morgan, of General Pleasonton's staff, who had 
 been missing since the day of the battle, and to leave 
 nothing undone for his relief in case he was still alive 
 otherwise to bring off his body if it could be found. Dr. 
 Lacy, a surgeon, of mature age, accomplished and peculiar, 
 accompanied the expedition. 
 
 The orders required celerity and alertness ; precautions 
 must be taken against the possibility of being surprised 
 by guerillas ; if any of the enemy's forces were in the 
 country, they were to be avoided. 
 
 Nothing worthy narration occurred on the outward 
 march: true, as already told, one or two horsemen 
 rebel cavalrymen, or perhaps guerillas were seen and 
 fired on as the column approached the mountain, but these 
 men had fled at once, and the command had moved on, a 
 strong rear-guard preserving the distance of four hundred 
 yards. 
 
 At noon the column halted, the horses were fed, and the 
 officers' mess assembled. 
 
 " Wonder where Lacy is now?" growled the captain. 
 
 " Formulating a syllogism, and too deep in thought to 
 eat," suggested Lieutenant Brock, a sprightly, dark man 
 of thirty. 
 
 Captain Freeman laughed. "You know very well, 
 Brock," said he, " that Lacy and I are old friends, and it 
 wouldn't do for anybody to speak harshly of him in my
 
 A LAST RESORT 15 
 
 presence ; but I must admit that for a man of good hard 
 sense he is the damnedest fool I ever saw. Somebody call 
 him up." 
 
 Before Lacy appeared the meal was half over. He was 
 a long man, with an emphatic stoop that suggested a desk 
 rather than a saddle iron-gray side whiskers specta- 
 cles foot-gear No. 11, and hands to match directly 
 the opposite of Freeman fair, fat, and fiery, who shouted, 
 " Better hurry, Doc ; hardly anything left for you ! " 
 
 The officers were around a gum-blanket spread upon the 
 grass. Lacy came up and squatted Turk fashion between 
 the two lieutenants. 
 
 "What have you been driving at, old man?" asked 
 Freeman. 
 
 "O-o-oh, nothing of consequence," drawled the doctor. 
 " Yet it is very unfortunate in this great crisis that there 
 should be differences of opinion. Now, there's my 
 driver ; he insists that Hooker ought to move into the 
 Valley, and try to take Lee by the tail, as he expresses it." 
 
 " What do you trouble your head about that for? Was 
 he arguing with you ? " 
 
 " No, with Tomlinson ; but I couldn't help hearing, and 
 I feld id by dudy do zed de mad righd," mumbled Lacy, 
 his mouth too full for distinct utterance. 
 
 " And you convinced him ; I'll bet my boots on that. " 
 
 " Yes ; he gave it up." 
 
 " I knew it," and Freeman winked furtively at Brock, 
 who was biting his lip to preserve gravity. 
 
 " But, Doctor," said the second lieutenant, a very 
 youthful soldier, unfamiliar with the surgeon's ways, and
 
 16 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 unheedful of Captain Freeman's warning signal ; " but, 
 Doctor, there are good critics who think Hooker's policy 
 is just what your driver suggested." 
 
 The surgeon's reply was not immediate, adequate in- 
 tonation being at the moment impracticable. " G-ood 
 critics, you say, sir?" 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Be good enough to name one." 
 
 " Oh, Doc, let up ! " exclaimed Freeman, who detested 
 argument ; " let every man think as he will. And it's 
 high time we were on the road again," he added, rising. 
 
 The march continued, more and more cautiously as 
 the evening closed. When the company again halted it 
 was already night, and preparations were made for the 
 bivouac, strong pickets being posted in every avenue of 
 
 approach. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Three officers were on their blankets under a great tree. 
 
 " We're not far from the battle-ground, Captain," said 
 Lieutenant Brock. 
 
 " Yes ; I think we're already on part of it, and I can't 
 say that I greatly relish the duty we're on. Of course, 
 it's all right to send us on a scout over here on this side 
 of the mountain, and it's all right to give help to our 
 wounded if we can find them, and I daresay it's all right 
 to look for Lieutenant Morgan ; but what I suspect is that 
 the last order is really the first in importance, at least in 
 the mind of General Stahel, and I'd prefer being told so 
 directly. However, I'm not grumbling with the orders, 
 and I'm going to obey to the letter, if possible."
 
 A LAST RESORT 17 
 
 "They say General Stahel is to be relieved," said 
 Lieutenant Brock. 
 
 " Yes ; the cavalry of the Washington Department is 
 to form a division under Kilpatrick." 
 
 " Where are we to find them when we get through 
 with this job, Captain ? " 
 
 " North of the Potomac about Frederick, I suppose ; 
 they are to cross at once perhaps they've already crossed." 
 
 " And what's to be done for Stahel ? " 
 
 " Oh, he'll land on his feet ; there is a rumour that 
 he's in demand to help organize the Pennsylvania Re- 
 serves ; but I don't know how true it is. At any rate, 
 when we get back we'll be under Kilpatrick." 
 
 " And are we all that are left here in Virginia? " 
 
 " I believe Lowell's scouts are somewhere about ; but 
 the division has gone, and we'd have gone too but for 
 this bad business about General Pleasonton's aide." 
 
 "Morgan seems to be thought very important, sir." 
 
 " Yes ; promoted for good conduct recently ; don't 
 suppose he knows it yet. I fancy he has powerful 
 friends at headquarters, if not in Washington. They 
 say he is very rich. Ever know him, Brock ? " 
 
 " No, not at all," said the lieutenant ; " I know, how- 
 ever, that the extensive preparation Lacy was required to 
 make, indicates great interest in him. He's brought 
 along the whole business enough for a regiment. Isn't 
 that so, Doctor ? " he asked, the surgeon's long form hav- 
 ing just shown itself. 
 
 "The preparation I have made is ample," said Lacy, 
 with evident pride.
 
 18 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Better than I was treated down at Kelley's Ford last 
 March," said the captain ; " yet I have no cause to com- 
 plain ; they did the best they could for me, I suppose ; 
 but they gave me no ambulance to ride in, nor any patent 
 mattress to lie on." 
 
 " Your recovery was rapid, nevertheless," said the sur- 
 geon ; " but are you thoroughly strong yet, Freeman ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; the day's ride hasn't hurt me at all. Do 
 you really believe Morgan is still alive ? " 
 
 "I know nothing more than I've already told you, 
 Freeman. The colonel said he had received a note un- 
 signed, stating that Morgan was over here ; but I fear 
 the whole thing is a trap ; innovation is always to be 
 suspected." 
 
 " Oh, no," said Freeman ; " I don't believe they would 
 be guilty of such a thing not even Mosby. At any 
 rate, I'm going to find out in the morning if any great 
 force is near by, and if so I shall ask a truce to see after 
 
 our men." 
 
 ***** 
 
 The night was cloudless, the concave moon was three- 
 quarters down the sky, and the vedette doing double duty 
 on the Ashby pike was thinking it was nearing the time 
 for relief, when he heard a noise from his right a sort 
 of coughing sound, as though preliminary to salutation. 
 
 " And who is ut that's there now ? Spake quick I " 
 he called, abruptly jerking his horse to the left. 
 
 " Hit ain't nobody but me, Mahsta ; hit ain't nobody 
 but ole Squiah, sah ; I done be'n sont to see de ginnle, o' 
 leastways de cap'm."
 
 A LAST RESORT 19 
 
 With some fear of a stratagem, yet with full recognition 
 of an immitigable negro voice and speech, O'Donnell 
 made ready his carbine, and said sternly, " Come out o' 
 there at wanst I " 
 
 A small man approached ; indeed, he looked smaller 
 than he was, for he was bending very low, not in mock 
 humility, but with the natural deference of the heredi- 
 tarily weak. 
 
 " I ain't nobody but ole Squiah, Mahsta," he repeated, 
 as, with hat off and coatless in the warm night, he stood 
 before the horseman, who could now see that the little 
 man's wool was very white. 
 
 "Whereabout d' ye belong, and what d' ye wantt, 
 man ? " Then the sentinel called aloud for the cor- 
 poral. 
 
 " I b'longs to Mahs John Ahmstrong, sah, but he done 
 gim me to Mahs Chahley, an' he done guv Judy, dat's 
 my ole 'oman, sah, he done guv Judy to my Miss Lucy, 
 an' I done be'n sont to tell you 'bout Mahs Dan Mawgin." 
 
 " Dan Margan, of all the world I And d' ye know 
 where he is now?" 
 
 " Yassah ; de good book hit say dat de man w'at fight 
 is a-sho' gwine to be smit by de swoad, an' hit's mighty 
 right dis time leastways, ef it waun't a swoad hit mus' 
 ha' be'n a cannon-ball, ef it waun't a bullet. But he's 
 mighty bad off, sah dat he is ; he's pow'ful weak, 
 Mahsta." 
 
 " And where is the poor craythur now ? " 
 
 " At ouah house, sah." 
 
 The corporal came up, and O'Donnell explained.
 
 20 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Well, I hope the darky is telling the truth. We've 
 been afraid that Morgan was killed. Hasn't been seen 
 since the fight on the twenty-first. Say you know where 
 he is, old man ? " 
 
 "Yassah, we tuck good keeh of 'im. Blesh yo' soul, 
 honey, we done tuck es good keeh of 'im es ef he wus a 
 Confeddick. I done be'n sont to tell de cap'm how to 
 come an git 'im." 
 
 "Yes, but you must tell we," said the corporal, with 
 the desire of relieving his superior of any possible 
 annoyance. 
 
 The negro scratched his head, and was silent for a 
 moment ; then he said, " But, Mahsta, hit won't do no 
 good, onless I tell de cap'm." 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Dess 'caze nobody can't git 'im, sah, onless dey comes 
 right." 
 
 " Come right ? What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 " I dunno, Mahsta, 'scusin' hit ain't feh to come wi' de 
 w'ite flag." 
 
 " Oho ! They mean to deliver him under truce, hey ? " 
 
 " Yassah, I 'spec' dat's hit ; I 'spec' dey wants de 
 troof." 
 
 " Stand to your post, O'Donnell, and hold him here," 
 said the corporal, turning rein. " I'll be back presently." 
 
 " And is Margan bad hit, now ? Where is the 
 wound ? " asked the sentinel. 
 
 "In de top o' he shouldeh, Mahsta, an' hit's mighty 
 bad. He ain't spoke but one time, sah, sence he got 
 shot."
 
 A LAST RESORT 21 
 
 " Is he in yer own house, d' ye say, now ? " 
 
 " In de big house, sah, an' in de baid ; he done had two 
 Confeddick doctohs, but dey ain't done him no good at 
 allyit." 
 
 " Thrue for ye ; more be token, they've nahthing to do 
 good with. Can he ait, now ? " 
 
 " No, sah ; but Miss Lucy, she fo'ced some broth down 
 his th'oat dis inawnin'. Dat's dess w'y I done be'n sont, 
 Mahsta, so de Feddick doctohs, w'at's got all de tools, 
 kin do 'im some good. De Confeddick doctohs dey done 
 said dat was de onliest chance." 
 
 The negro's tones and manner of speech would have 
 betrayed great deliberation had any familiar acquaintance 
 heard him ; old Squire was certainly doing his best to 
 conceal, and at the same time to accomplish. 
 
 When the corporal returned, he ordered Squire to 
 march before him, and soon halted the old man in front 
 of four officers. 
 
 " This is the man, Captain." 
 
 Squire saluted to the ground, and stood there in the moon- 
 light, looking unabashed in the presence of the powerful. 
 
 " I'm told you know where Lieutenant Morgan is," said 
 the captain. This speech surprised Squire ; he had not 
 known that the wounded man was an officer. 
 
 " Yassah, he's at ouah house, sah, leastway Mahs 
 Dan Mawgin's dah, sah, an' I done be'n sont to tell you 
 dat shu kin come an' git 'im, sah . . . dess about a mile, 
 sah, atteh you go by dem chimbleys." 
 
 " Where are the rebels ?"..." What is the character 
 of the wound ? "
 
 22 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The question written as second in order, though the 
 two were spoken simultaneously, came of course from 
 Surgeon Lacy, and was more to Squire's taste than was 
 the first. 
 
 " Mahs Dan, you talkin' 'bout, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Yes ; tell me how he is hurt." 
 
 " Oh, hold on, Lacy; plenty of time for that. Old man, 
 where are the rebels?" repeated the captain. 
 
 Now this, in Squire's opinion, was a very unparliamen- 
 tary question one of the questions against which he had 
 been earnestly cautioned ; and he thought the best policy 
 was to split the difference to tell half-truths and half- 
 lies, and to exaggerate lavishly. 
 
 " Dey is all about, sah, 'scusin' dem w'at's done went 
 away. Some of 'em is in Loudoun, an' some of 'em is in 
 Culpepeh, an' some in Mellan' an' Penns'vania, an' some 
 is in Richmon,' an' some is in ole Fihginny, an' den some 
 mo'e of 'em is done went to Washin'ton." 
 
 " Washington I " exclaimed Captain Freeman, angrily ; 
 " you know very well that's a lie. Who put you up to 
 say that ? " 
 
 Dr. Lacy seemed as angry as the captain, though on a 
 different account. "Freeman, let the man tell all he 
 knows in his own way and get through. I want to hear 
 about Morgan's wound." 
 
 " Now you just hold on till your turn comes, Doc. Say, 
 old man, what do you mean by telling me such lies ? " 
 
 Squire was inwardly trembling because of his mistake, 
 but thanks to the respite brought by the surgeon's inter- 
 vention, had seen his way out.
 
 A LAST RESORT 23 
 
 " Yassah, mayby dey did tell me wrong, 'caze I didn't 
 go wid 'em, an' cou'se I can't tell it feh true, an' some 
 men is mighty deceivin', Mahsta, but I seed some of 'em 
 tek de back track feh Washin'ton w'en de mos' of 'em 
 ride down the road to'ads Leesbuhg." 
 
 " Back track ! Do you know where Washington 
 is?" 
 
 " Yassah; de big Washin'ton hit's down de road, an de 
 Little Washin'ton hit's up de road. You b'lieve I talkin' 
 'bout de big Washin'ton, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Oh," grunted the captain, " you mean Little Wash- 
 ington in Rappahannock County ? " 
 
 "Yassah." 
 
 "Now, Freeman, give me my turn," said the surgeon, 
 chuckling. 
 
 "No; I'm not through with him yet. Are there no 
 rebels left about Middleburg ? " 
 
 " Oh, yassah," replied Squire, lying superbly ; " dey is 
 some dah yit; but dem dat done sont me dey ain't 
 a-gwine to fight shu all; dey say you dess sen' an' git Mahs 
 Dan Mawgin ; dey not a-gwine to fight shu all ; dey says 
 zhu dess put up de w'ite flag an' dess come along ; dess 
 put up de w'ite flag, Mahsta, awn yo' am'lance, an' come 
 right along an' git 'im, dat's w'at dey want shu to do, 
 you kin tek 'im an' keoh 1 'im up, 'caze he mighty bad awff, 
 an' he sho' is a-needin' de tools w'at shu got an' w'at dey 
 ain't got ; dat's w'at dey says, Mahsta, an' dat's w'at dey 
 done sont ole Squiah to tell you, sah, dat dey ain't a-gwine 
 to fight shu ef you dess puts up de w'ite flag." 
 
 iCure.
 
 24 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Now, Freeman, will you graciously permit me to do 
 my duty ? " said the doctor. 
 
 " Go ahead, Doc," replied the captain, his tones indi- 
 cating surrender without bitterness. 
 
 "Tell me, my friend, where the wounded man is hurt." 
 
 "In de neck an' shouldeh, Mahsta." 
 
 " By what sort of weapon ? " 
 
 "Sah?" 
 
 " Was he shot, or cut ? " explained Freeman. 
 
 " Hit mus' ha' be'n a bullet, sah." 
 
 " Whereabouts on the neck ? " 
 
 Squire put his forefinger somewhere behind his right 
 jaw, as it seemed to Freeman ; perhaps Lacy, even in the 
 mild moonlight, knew what was meant. 
 
 " Can he eat ? " 
 
 " No, sah, an' he can't talk, nutheh ; he dess stays right 
 still all de time, sah." 
 
 Lacy continued to question the negro, who, however, 
 was really unable to give him other information than that 
 the wound was very serious. 
 
 " Where are Mosby's men ? " asked the prudent captain. 
 
 "I dunno, Mahsta." 
 
 " Where are White's men ? " 
 
 " I dunno, Mahsta." 
 
 Yet, even guerillas would respect the white flag, thought 
 the captain. There need be no hesitation in accepting the 
 negro's news as valid, and there need be no fear in send- 
 ing for the wounded officer, so Squire was dismissed with 
 a verbal message to the effect that the ambulance would 
 be sent to Armstrong's at eleven o'clock on the morrow.
 
 A LAST RESORT 25 
 
 Daniel Morgan had been warned by the Confederate 
 surgeons that his brother's case required appliances impos- 
 sible for them to procure ; he had seen, therefore, that the 
 only hope was to deliver him into Federal hands, and for 
 this purpose he had risked another day's delay, so when 
 Squire before daybreak returned with the report of a suc- 
 cessful mission, it needed but few hours to make every- 
 thing ready, not for his own departure merely, but for 
 that of his friends also. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The Armstrongs father, mother, and daughter, with 
 Mrs. Berry took their seats in a great carriage, while 
 the servants climbed into a heavy wagon loaded with 
 what the refugees felt compelled to save. The adieus 
 had hardly been said when old Squire trotted up. 
 
 " Lawdy ! You gwine now, Mahs John ? " 
 
 Mr. Armstrong found himself unable to reply. This 
 home which he was deserting had been his home since his 
 birth the only home he had ever known ; the only place 
 he would ever know as home. 
 
 The old negro sidled up to the carriage, and took one 
 by one the white hands extended to him, and called down 
 all the blessings of heaven, while unrestrained tears were 
 visible on Lucy's cheeks, and Mrs. Armstrong sobbed 
 convulsively. Then Squire went to the wagon where 
 Aunt Judy, his wife, was sitting on a big trunk. He 
 put one foot on a spoke, raised himself, took his wife's 
 hand and placed it on his own white head. 
 
 " Gawd bless an' save you, Judy. I's got to follow 
 Mahs Chahley th'ough thick an' thin, an' you's got to go
 
 26 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 wi' Miss Lucy anywhah an' ev'ywhah. You an' me, 
 Judy you an' me dat's all. 'Membeh ole Squiah " 
 and without another word he sprang from the wheel and 
 turned toward the house, leaving old Judy rocking from 
 side to side in her speechless agony. Hardly had the 
 horses started when Squire was at the doorway where 
 Daniel Morgan, bitter partings over, still stood, watching 
 the refugees begin their journey into hoped-for safety. 
 " Mahs Dan, you ain't a-gwine to hide ? " 
 " No, it's almost time for them to be here, Squire." 
 " Yassah, dey gwine to git sheah 'bout 'leben o'clock, 
 sah." 
 
 "We have only half an hour, Squire. They'll not 
 trouble you or me ; but you'd better take our horses and 
 hide them in the thicket down below the pasture 
 we don't know what thieves they may have in the 
 gang." 
 
 Old Squire left him. He went to the room where his 
 twin brother lay. Soon he would deliver this brother 
 into the hands of friends this brother with whom he 
 was even yet unacquainted. God, if he willed it so, 
 could save this life so nearly spent. Daniel Morgan 
 had in his own mind decided on this course it was 
 the only hope. And, as he stood by Andrew's bed- 
 side, he felt that he had done for the best in sending 
 Squire for the Federals. But should he tell the Federals 
 his own great interest in their comrade? They would 
 soon be here to take his brother away would their kind- 
 ness to the wounded man be greater if they should know 
 that he was of Southern birth ? No ; let Andrew, when
 
 A LAST RESORT 27 
 
 he should recover speech, tell whatever he might choose 
 to tell ; to tell now would be to do so without his consent. 
 Daniel bent over and spoke. 
 
 " Brother, I knpw that you can understand what I say. 
 I have sent for your friends ; they will soon be here, to 
 take you to some good hospital where you can get scien- 
 tific treatment. I have done the best I could for you ; 
 I cannot stay here, for my duty calls me away. When 
 you recover, I want you to send me word, if possible. 
 Until I know that you have recovered I can do my duty 
 without hesitation ; when you have recovered, I shall 
 want to know it, and shall want to meet you, so that 
 we can arrange some way to prevent our ever meeting 
 in battle. Let us never run the risk of injuring each 
 other. If it be possible I shall send you some word, but 
 now I can do no more than tell you that my place is 
 usually with the First Virginia cavalry, though frequently 
 I am called on to serve General Stuart, and in many ways. 
 I shall not say to your friends that you are my brother ; 
 it could do no good, so far as I can see. When you 
 recover, then decide for yourself whether you shall tell 
 anything. I know that enough has been said before you 
 to enable you to understand our real relations, and our 
 strange history. I pledge you, brother, that my hand 
 shall never be against you, and if we survive this war I 
 shall harbour no thought against you for serving against 
 us you simply couldn't help it. And I know that you 
 give me credit for serving with equal honesty against 
 you. Good-by." The Confederate bent down and kissed 
 the wounded man.
 
 28 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 An hour later the ambulance, under its escort, was 
 moving slowly toward Aldie, while Daniel Morgan, with 
 old Squire, was riding fast in a northeasterly direction, 
 to overtake his friends and with them seek Stuart.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 SANCTUARY 
 
 " Soften the wounded prisoner's lot." SCOTT. 
 
 A CAREFUL examination had convinced the experienced 
 Dr. Lacy that Morgan's wound was not necessarily fatal, 
 and yet that the Confederate surgeons had been profes- 
 sionally correct in advising that the sufferer be handed 
 over to the Union army. The Federal surgeon could 
 only apply a medicated bandage and allow prompt re- 
 moval ; although he feared the effect, yet the journey 
 was clearly necessary, and for that he had already done 
 the best in providing for the easiest manner of trans- 
 portation possible. To stout elastic straps from the 
 ribbed roof of the vehicle swung a mattress, beneath 
 which were springs that it scarcely touched, permitting 
 only the minimum of oscillation, and furnishing the 
 basis of the doctor's pardonable vanity over his own 
 invention. To this mattress the wounded Morgan was 
 lifted directly from his bed ; then mattress and all were 
 placed in the ambulance, screws and clamps were secured, 
 and orders given to drive eastward with extreme care, 
 two men walking ahead to remove every stone from 
 possible touch of the wheels. 
 
 29
 
 30 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The surgeon had mounted, and now rode in front at 
 the slowest walk, to guide the pace. A mile made, 
 Captain Freeman's company was found under arms by 
 the roadside. The surgeon reported, and was ordered to 
 proceed through Middleburg, the captain promising to 
 guard the rear, and to overtake the ambulance before 
 it should reach Aldie. Lacy learned that the parties 
 sent out over the battle-ground and into the houses near by 
 had failed to find any wounded soldier, so he was content 
 to know that his exclusive attention to Morgan was all 
 that could be required. 
 
 The slow progress under the midsummer sun was try- 
 ing. Lacy tied his bridle to the rear of the ambulance 
 and got inside to avoid the heat, yet, although there had 
 been rain but few days before, and the fields were still 
 wet, the dust rose in great puffs from the hoofs in front 
 and balanced thick in the stagnant air, speedily powdering 
 the interior of the vehicle. This dust, Lacy reasoned, 
 might prove the preponderant grains in the scales of life 
 and death ; the doctor himself, well and sound, was suffer- 
 ing for want of pure air ; how was it with the patient, 
 whose air passages might already have become almost 
 choked by his wound ? At every firm spot in the road, 
 Lacy called a halt and allowed a breathing spell, yet 
 there before him he could always see the white line of 
 deep dust through which the horses and wheels must 
 churn ; and he began to cast about for some possible 
 manner of saving his patient from the noisome effects 
 of the way. He could see the road for a mile in his 
 rear: no cavalry were on it ; he had time to wait and to 
 think.
 
 SANCTUARY 81 
 
 Only a furlong at the left of the road was an unpre- 
 tentious farm-house. Lacy sent one of his three men to 
 inquire whether it was possible, by taking some by-road, 
 to avoid the deep dust in front, and yet secure comfort 
 a good level surface is the main requisite in any road. 
 The man soon returned, bringing with him Mr. West, the 
 resident, who calmly introduced himself. The surgeon 
 pressed his questions. 
 
 " Yes, sir," replied the Southerner, curtly, " there is a 
 way through my place." 
 
 " Then I'll ask you to show me the way. I have a 
 soldier here who is badly hurt." 
 
 " I suppose you are a surgeon, sir, and on the Union 
 side ? " 
 
 " Yes, and I trust you are a true patriot." 
 
 Mr. West smiled doubtfully. " I think I am, sir ; yet 
 there are two sides to that question. However, that shall 
 not prevent my helping a wounded man." 
 
 "I acknowledge no two sides," said the surgeon, 
 emphatically ; " but if you are not for the Union, I accept 
 your help as man to man. Will you lead the way ? " 
 
 Mr. West walked toward his home, Dr. Lacy, who had 
 remounted, riding near the farmer, and the ambulance 
 slowly following. 
 
 "I suppose the wounded man is the one that was at 
 Armstrong's ? " 
 
 " Yes, Lieutenant Morgan." 
 
 Mr. West had heard of the case of the two brothers, 
 but thought best to say nothing about it. 
 
 " Very badly hurt, sir ? "
 
 82 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Yes, a quite serious wound ; an interesting one, too, 
 to a man of my calling. I'm hoping to pull him through, 
 but I know that to do so I must make no mistake." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; I can imagine your interest. I've often 
 thought that a devoted surgeon gets as much out of real 
 life as anybody : he saves others, and lives large himself. 
 But for accident I should have followed your noble 
 calling. Now, here we turn off through my lot. I'll 
 take you by a road through my fields, where there is no 
 dust, and not a stone. The way is longer, but you'll come 
 out into the pike again near Aldie, and save quite a long 
 pull through the dust, sir. I'll go with you until you 
 can't miss the But, hello ! Look yonder ! " 
 
 Mr. West had been in the act of opening his big gate, 
 and in doing so had turned, and he was now looking 
 toward the pike. From down the road a single horseman 
 was riding westward with all speed, the dust flying, the 
 horse's head, neck, and tail almost one straight line. 
 
 The surgeon had turned, but had shown no discom- 
 posure. Though the horseman's clothing was so com- 
 pletely covered with dust that the colour of his uniform 
 was all guesswork, yet Lacy knew by his perception of 
 many minute particulars merged into one general aspect 
 that the man was a courier ; and, if a courier, he must be 
 a Federal, riding with orders for Freeman. Bending low, 
 the man was storming by, regardless of dust or hill or hol- 
 low ; yet, as he passed the outlet of the homestead lane, 
 he turned his face, no doubt perceiving the ambulance, 
 and shouted, but the words could not be distinguished. 
 
 "I believe that man is Stahel's courier," said Lacy,
 
 SANCTUARY 33 
 
 almost mechanically ; then, " Could you tell what he 
 said?" 
 
 " No, I couldn't make it out." 
 
 "Perhaps Mosby's men have cut us off." 
 
 " Perhaps so, sir," said Mr. West, smiling, and thinking 
 of Usher. 
 
 "Mr. West, I wish to hide this ambulance." 
 
 " I don't know that I ought to help you in that, sir. 
 I'll do what I can for your wounded man, but I ought to 
 do no more." 
 
 " Then I must do the best I can. Lead on, if you will. 
 The courier will soon get to Captain Freeman, and they 
 will learn the news. Until I know more than I do now, 
 I shall be afraid to risk my patient farther east." 
 
 " As you wish, sir ; I shall not object to your waiting 
 till you know more. This way, sir." 
 
 The ambulance was driven behind a clump of plum 
 trees near the horse lot. One of the surgeon's men was 
 stationed at the gate, where he could watch the pike. 
 Mr. West lingered near the vehicle and occasionally 
 looked into it. Morgan was still stretched out, on his 
 back, with eyes open intelligent eyes which seemed to say 
 that he knew all that was passing. And it was true that, 
 with the exception of intervals when he had slept or had 
 been giddy from pain, he had known all the while his own 
 condition and somewhat of his immediate surroundings. 
 At this moment he had begun to rise out of a semi-con- 
 scious state of suffering ; he had felt his body oppressed, 
 as with a weight preventing breath, and he had believed 
 himself about to succumb ; but now, in pure air, relief had
 
 84 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 succeeded, and yet almost intolerable thirst. He could 
 not remember that he had wanted water it seemed a 
 long time since he had thought of water a long time 
 since he had been brought into the Armstrong house a 
 long time since he had fallen. Snatches of recollection 
 came to him, women, men, one man above all, who had 
 claimed to be his brother, yes, whom he knew to be his 
 brother, for Daniel Morgan the Federal had learned of 
 the relationship before the Confederate had known. He 
 had slept much for the past two days, and his sleep had 
 been marked by disturbing dreams ; so now, while wide 
 awake, he was unable to know dream from fact, and as he 
 lay there on the mattress the past became to him a past 
 of confusion wherein things lost their right proportion 
 and mixed irrelevantly. Yet his old actual service, before 
 he had been hurt, loomed in his memory intact, and he 
 knew that he had discovered his brother's existence while 
 his own body and mind had been sound. And the pres- 
 ent moment was clear : he had heard and understood 
 the last words of Mr. West and Dr. Lacy ; he knew 
 that the surgeon had suspended the march, and he hoped 
 that the delay would be long, for movement was very 
 painful. 
 
 Morgan's thoughts were forced into another channel. 
 The voice of the surgeon sounded sharply in his ears. 
 
 "How long since?" 
 
 "Only two hours, sir." 
 
 " Was it known who they were ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; Stuart Stuart's whole force. They went 
 through Glasscock Gap night before last, sir, and they are
 
 SANCTUARY 35 
 
 now passing through Prince William ; but nobody knows 
 where they are making for." 
 
 " When will Captain Freeman be here ? " 
 
 " Coming now, sir ; he ought to be here in a few 
 minutes." 
 
 Captain Freeman's company had been halted on the 
 turnpike ; the commander rode alone to see the surgeon. 
 
 " Bad news, Doc ! " 
 
 " Yes, I'm told that Stuart has cut us off from the east." 
 
 " Fact, I guess ; at any rate, there's no doubt that 
 rebels are between us and Fairfax." 
 
 " And what orders have you received, Captain ? " 
 
 "I've been ordered to march through Hopewell, or 
 Thoroughfare, or Glasscock, and get back as quickly as 
 possible. The rebels are reported moving northeast, and 
 I am to strike south of them and get back. This road is 
 completely blocked east of Aldie, and there's no telling 
 how long it will be blocked. Stahel has marched into 
 Maryland, and my instructions give me choice of moving 
 after him by Leesburg ; but I'm afraid I'd run into a trap, 
 for Pleasonton has no doubt crossed by this time. I pre- 
 fer the southern gaps." 
 
 " And you go at once ? " 
 
 " Yes, orders are imperative. I expect a long ride, and 
 a rapid one." 
 
 " Well, Freeman, this ambulance with my patient in it 
 cannot go over those rough roads." 
 
 " Yes, I understand, Doc ; your case gives me the 
 shakes, my friend ; I'm compelled to let you decide what 
 you'll do."
 
 86 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Decide ? Decide be damned ! " exclaimed Lacy, 
 roused to rare emphasis. " The thing decides itself ; I 
 stay with my patient." 
 
 " Of course, I knew you'd do that. How about your 
 men?" 
 
 Lacy seemed not to hear ; he was thinking trying to 
 determine quickly what was best to be done. When he 
 spoke again, his tones were full of energy. 
 
 " Can you give me an hour ? " 
 
 "No." 
 
 " Half an hour, then ? Order your men to feed, and give 
 me half an hour." 
 
 " What do you mean to do? " 
 
 " I mean to use my men, and some of yours, for half an 
 hour, and then let my men go back with you. There's no 
 good in getting them caught here, and the more of us that 
 are left the more danger there'll be. Mr. West here 
 seems willing to help us, out of pure charity." 
 
 " Well, Doc, take your half-hour ; but be lively now, 
 man, and don't delay me longer." 
 
 " You'll see me ready in twenty minutes. Send me two 
 or three of your best men up here." 
 
 Lacy had his patient, without removing him from the 
 mattress, taken into the house, West giving up his best 
 rooms. Then the chest of instruments and medicines 
 was brought in, and finally Lacy's personal baggage. 
 
 " Now, Mr. West," said the doctor, " won't you let me 
 hide this ambulance somewhere ? I can have it taken to 
 pieces and scattered here and there, ready to put together 
 again when I can get away."
 
 SANCTUARY 37 
 
 "No, Doctor, I can't help you do that ; besides, what 
 would you do with your horses? I don't mind telling 
 you that I should be tempted to notify the first Confeder- 
 ates I see where you have hidden your horses. As for 
 the wounded man, that's a different thing, though I don't 
 know, after all, that I shouldn't tell our folks so that they 
 can get his parole." 
 
 Lacy reflected; this man West was stubborn in his 
 adherence to his cause. " Morgan's parole would be 
 worth nothing," said he ; " he is at the door of death, and 
 even if he recovers it is very doubtful that he could ever 
 serve again ; but I shall not urge you to do violence to 
 your conscience. Here, Hawley ! " 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " Lead my horse. Jamison, drive the ambulance down 
 to the road. It can follow empty without any trouble." 
 
 Down at the pike the bugle sounded to saddle. Captain 
 Freeman pressed the surgeon's hand. " Lacy," he said, " I 
 always knew you were a tiptop fellow, and you're doing 
 now only what I should have known you'd do in such a 
 case. You may feel sure, old man, that Bob Freeman will 
 tell things on you at headquarters. And we're coming 
 back for you as soon as possible. Good-by," and Freeman 
 turned and galloped after his company, which was filing 
 southeast over rugged roads to avoid Stuart's column and 
 work back to safety. 
 
 Though the wise submit to necessity, they feel the 
 necessity. It is needless to say that the sudden invasion 
 of his home was as disagreeable to Mr. West as it was 
 to Dr. Lacy. Mr. West was known in all the country
 
 38 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 round about as a discreet man, a long-headed man, a safe 
 man. His adherence in sentiment to the Southern cause 
 had been open, even while Loudoun was occupied by 
 Federals ; yet he had given no offence, unless indeed to 
 mere sentiment contrary to his own. None had ever been 
 known to impugn his motives, or to point to any objec- 
 tionable act ; for while to the Federals he admitted without 
 obtrusiveness his political views, at the same time he 
 condemned the voluntary activity of civilians here in this 
 fought for corner, and even had shut his doors upon his 
 own son until Usher proved to his father that Mosby was 
 regularly commissioned, and his men formally enlisted in 
 the service of the Confederate States. He had said that 
 he would be tempted to divulge the hiding-place of Lacy's 
 horses, but such temptation would have been overcome, as 
 always, by his sense of the impropriety of any civilian's 
 engaging in help of either side when not forced by law. 
 He was in the vigour of middle age, sturdy, well pre- 
 served, frugal, hardy, thoughtful, stern, his neighbours 
 thought. Except for Usher, who was almost always 
 away, his only daughter, named for his native State, was 
 all his family, Mrs. West having died before the war 
 began. Jennie, now nineteen, was everything her father 
 wished, save that by responsibility and care she was 
 forced into a life from which he would gladly have ele- 
 vated her. Almost every negro had gone, and Virginia 
 was mistress, cook, housemaid, sempstress, all in one, 
 except for the help of two superannuated slaves ; and at 
 times it was difficult for her to obtain their yet more 
 servile work, so that her hands were full and her brain as
 
 SANCTUARY 39 
 
 well. True, her family was small, and her father's tastes 
 were not exacting, and her own simple nature demanded 
 not the unattainable ; but she was wise enough to feel that 
 their life, in the midst of contrary-minded men and 
 differing now so widely from her former life of ease, was 
 unwholesome, and that it could not endure. There were 
 times when she wished her father would abandon every- 
 thing and take her with him out of the country, yet she 
 knew it almost impossible to live without this home 
 which could not have found a purchaser, and she 
 gave no utterance to her vain wishes, which she knew 
 were not his, he being very ardently attached to the 
 place. 
 
 " Well, Jennie, I'm to tell you serious news," Mr. 
 West had said, as the surgeon began to supervise the 
 removal of Morgan. 
 
 The girl had known that some important event was in 
 the air ; she laid her hand on her father's coatless arm, 
 and smiled. The faces were almost on a level ; her form 
 was erect and tall ; her face full of dignity unalloyed 
 with any shade of pretence. She did not speak she 
 smiled assent and comfort. 
 
 " We have a wounded soldier to help care for, for God 
 knows how long. I should not be distressed at all, but 
 that I know it will add to your cares and your work. He 
 is in a very bad way, and it would be brutal to refuse, 
 even if we had the power." 
 
 Miss West had many times seen troops of all arms, 
 Confederate and Federal, she had even seen them in 
 action, for her home was where the cavalry frequently
 
 40 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 rode and not unfrequently fought. On this day she had 
 seen cavalry ride past ; she had seen her father guide the 
 ambulance. 
 
 " Father, of course we must take care of him. Which 
 side does he belong to ? " 
 
 " He is a Federal. There are two to provide for, the 
 wounded man and a surgeon." 
 
 Jennie became very busy with her arrangements. The 
 front room on the west shaded by a great oak had 
 been chosen for Morgan, the adjoining room for the sur- 
 geon, who, however, insisted that all plans should take 
 into account that his place was with his patient, and that 
 for himself no apartment was necessary. 
 
 It was past the dinner hour, and Dr. Lacy had not 
 dined. Jennie's slender meal had long been ready. The 
 girl added what she could, and the three sat down. 
 
 " Miss West, this would be a very great pleasure were 
 it not for the necessity that is upon us." 
 
 " You mean the condition of the wounded man, 
 Doctor ? " 
 
 " Yes, that and more. I mean of course, the necessity 
 for disturbing your manner of life. I hate to do it. If 
 you knew how I hate it, you would pardon me." 
 
 " You need no pardon, Doctor ; you are doing no 
 wrong. I can imagine how you feel." 
 
 " If I could only get ice." 
 
 " Ice ? " said Mr. West ; " you can have as much as you 
 want. I've got ice older than you are ice that the 
 neighbours say has got worms in it." 
 
 " Is it possible ? My dear sir, you don't know what a
 
 SANCTUARY 41 
 
 weight you take from me. I can almost say now that I 
 can warrant Morgan's recovery." 
 
 " Whose ? " asked Jennie, curiously. 
 
 " Morgan's my patient's." 
 
 " Is he the soldier who was at Mr. Armstrong's ? " 
 
 " Yes. Do you know anything of him ? " 
 
 " No, sir, I have never seen him ; but I heard they 
 were taking care of a wounded man named Morgan." 
 
 " They have all gone," said the surgeon. 
 
 " Yes, sir, they have long wanted to go, and have just 
 now found their opportunity. You saw nothing of 
 them?" 
 
 " We saw but one man a Confederate soldier ; he 
 was wounded, too, to judge by the bandage over his 
 face. He told us that the family had gone, and that he 
 had remained to the last, in order to see that Morgan was 
 safely delivered to us. Strange thing about this business 
 is that we were required to come with a flag, and yet 
 found no authority entitled to receive us nobody at all 
 except that one man. I guess they outwitted us, but 
 for what purpose I cannot yet understand." 
 
 To all this speech Jennie said nothing. Two years of 
 war had taught the girl prudence, and she felt that it was 
 her father's place to speak, if reply should be made.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 
 
 " Ah, me ! What act that roars so loud, 
 
 And thunders in the index ? " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 AT first Stuart's march had been southeastward, begin- 
 ning the movement which, in its relation to the Confed- 
 erate campaign, has caused the greatest condemnation by 
 military men. Of course Stuart's purpose was not as yet 
 understood by his enemies. Constantly overrated as the 
 Confederates were, their cavalry division might be the 
 curtain behind which heavy bodies of infantry were march- 
 ing eastward upon the Capital. Prudence demanded that 
 the outlying Federal troops still south of the Potomac be 
 brought together to resist the possible assault, and they 
 were quickly concentrated by order of General Heintzel- 
 man, in command of the Washington defences, and were 
 deployed across the Little River pike, down which from 
 the west the threatened attack seemed likely to come. 
 But Captain Freeman's company found no enemy block- 
 ing the roads, for Stuart's column had passed beyond, and 
 the captain, now deploring his inability under his orders 
 to send back for the surgeon, pursued his way without 
 
 42
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 43 
 
 hindrance, or even alarm, and reached Centreville, where 
 he found orders requiring his immediate march to the 
 Potomac to rejoin Stand's cavalry division. 
 
 Meantime, pursuant to the plans laid by Sency, he and 
 his two friends, after learning that all of Hooker's army 
 had marched northward, turned toward Gum Spring, and 
 continued to ride slowly in the hope of being overtaken 
 by Morgan and Squire, who were to ride directly north- 
 eastward and join Sency before he crossed the Potomac. 
 Taking Salem as his starting-point, Stuart had marched 
 almost on the arc of a circle, first southeastward through 
 Glasscock Gap and until beyond the Occoquan, then 
 northward through Fairfax Court-House to Rowser's 
 Ford. Although Morgan's ride was to be on a chord of 
 Stuart's arc, straight for Rowser's Ford, yet almost twenty 
 hours had passed between the time of Sency 's sending 
 Squire back to Morgan and Morgan's start, and in these 
 twenty hours Stuart had crossed the river and Sency was 
 nearing it. Stuart's ride from Salem to the river was a 
 ride of seventy miles ; Morgan's was only thirty miles, 
 but the last of Stuart's column had crossed before Morgan 
 and Squire started. 
 
 Sency knew the danger of waiting. He knew that just 
 so soon as the Federals should learn that the column had 
 crossed, they would follow its rear, endeavouring to pick 
 up stragglers, to cut the column off from the south, to 
 harass its rear in every way possible. The case looked 
 gloomy to Sency. It looked as though he must choose 
 between deserting his friend and being almost certainly 
 captured by the enemy. The three men had spent the
 
 44 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 night in the forest ; they had this day moved cautiously, 
 skirting the roads, riding through hollows, keeping sharp 
 watch at all times, and on the hills pausing long and 
 examining the ground in fear of seeing dust rising from 
 the march of their enemies already cutting them off from 
 Stuart. 
 
 Armstrong was too moody to talk ; Lewis was never 
 moody just the opposite now for he had abundant 
 confidence in Sency's ability. Sency himself doubted not 
 that Morgan would come, though he feared the coming 
 would be so late that they would find all the river fords 
 in the power of the enemy following Stuart ; yet, as he 
 neared the Potomac, his hopes rose, for here he was sure 
 that he was following Stuart's column, known by the 
 tracks of many unshod hoofs. 
 
 Three miles from the river a by-road running northeast 
 enters the road to the Potomac; at the junction Sency 
 halted. 
 
 "Here's the last chance, Joe." 
 
 " George, I'm a-thinkin' that Dan won't git here much 
 before midnight. He'll want all this mornin' before he 
 starts. If he started before noon, he might git here before 
 night ; but then, you know, he might have to ride in 
 a roundabout way. I don't think he'll git here much 
 before midnight." Fully fifty times had Joe Lewis made, 
 on this day, a similar utterance. 
 
 "He'll ride like hell," said Armstrong. 
 
 " It won't do to stand here, boys," and Sency led the 
 way into the bushes and dismounted. 
 
 " Suppose I go back on that road a mile or two," sug-
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 45 
 
 gested Armstrong, to whom action was a necessity; "I 
 might meet 'em coming." 
 
 " Your ride would be useless. They'll get here just 
 as soon by your staying," replied Sency. 
 
 " Then suppose I ride on to the ford and see if it's all 
 right?" 
 
 " Won't it be night by the time you get there ? Can 
 you see anything?" Sency asked. 
 
 "No, it won't be dark. I think I'd better do it, 
 George. I can get up close and maybe see the other 
 side. Then we'll know better what to count on." 
 
 " All right, Armstrong. But be careful, my friend 
 don't be too risky. Find out what you can ; but be sure 
 you look to your rear ; and you'd better stay down there 
 till we come." 
 
 Armstrong mounted and rode north. 
 
 " If he don't git into some kind of a row, it'll be a 
 God's wonder," said Joe. 
 
 " Sh-h-h ! " whispered his comrade. 
 
 Southward on the road over which they had lately 
 ridden a thin dust was rising. In a second hoofs were 
 heard. Expectation became painful. Was it possible 
 that Morgan's route had merged into their own road far 
 below this point ? Neither man spoke, but they looked 
 by instants into each other's eyes, and by instants up the 
 road. Sency knelt down, to see better beneath the limbs 
 of the trees. The sounds kept coming, louder and 
 louder, and now Sency felt that more than two horses 
 were making all that noise, and Joe could see by George's 
 face that suspense had changed to disappointment.
 
 46 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Six Federal cavalrymen passed north on the road. 
 
 The two men again looked into each other's eyes ; the 
 thought of one was the thought of both how to warn 
 Armstrong. 
 
 " I better go, George ; I can fetch a bend an' strike 
 him, I'm a-thinkin'." 
 
 " No, Joe ; I'm afraid they'd hear you." 
 
 " Then I believe I'll ride out after them fellers an' fire 
 off my carbine. Charley'll hear it an'll know some'h'm's 
 up." 
 
 " Wait. Don't be in too big a hurry. Armstrong may 
 find out without Sh-h-h ! " and Sency crouched low 
 again. 
 
 On the road there was no dust rising, the branch 
 road to the southwest, but there came again the sound 
 of hoof beats, rapid ones, and fewer, and coming from far, 
 and Joe knelt by George's side in an agony of hope. The 
 sound of the gallop continued to come, and louder it 
 grew, and the dust now rose in their sight, and with bated 
 breath and joints all stiff the men saw first a curling 
 mane, and a horse's head, and then Joe Lewis broke out 
 loud : 
 
 " Morgan ! Goddomighty, all hell couldn't hold him ! " 
 
 " Heaven, you'd better say," laughed George. 
 
 Sency handed Lewis his bridle and rushed to the road. 
 
 "Morgan, Armstrong has gone to the ford, and six 
 Yankees are following him. They passed here not five 
 minutes ago." 
 
 Old Squire had come up, and had heard. Lewis had 
 come up.
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 47 
 
 " We must follow the Yankees at once, and see what 
 they're made out of, " exclaimed Morgan. His tone 
 was anxious but decided. 
 
 " No, no," said Sency, " that's not good policy ; we 
 want no trouble ; our business is to get across the river. 
 What I fear is that Armstrong will cause an alarm, so 
 that we shall be guarded against." 
 
 "How long since he left?" demanded Sergeant 
 Morgan. 
 
 "Not a quarter of an hour." 
 
 "Got ten minutes' start?" 
 
 " Hardly." 
 
 "Were they riding faster than he was?" 
 
 " No, but before he gets in sight of the river he'll slow 
 up, and I'm afraid the road runs between fences down 
 there." 
 
 " Mahs Dan, I got to go awn," said Squire ; "I dess 
 got to go awn." 
 
 " Go where, Squire ? " 
 
 "I got to go awn an' see 'bout my Mahs Chahley." 
 
 " The very thing ! " exclaimed Sency. " Squire, you 
 ride on until you see the Yankees ; then " 
 
 " Yassah, you dess leave 'em to me, sah ; I'll fix 'em. 
 I'll tell Mahs Chahley dey's a-comin' an' dey won't 
 know it notheh dat dey won't." 
 
 " I see," said Morgan ; " and we'll ride as near you as 
 we can, Squire. Go ahead, old fellow." 
 
 The negro started at a gallop. 
 
 " What is he up to, George ? " asked Joe, wonder- 
 ingly.
 
 48 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Don't exactly know his plans, Joe; but I'm confident 
 he'll find some way to tell Armstrong to look out." 
 
 The three men rode northward, following the negro at 
 such a distance as only to keep him in view. When the 
 road turned and Squire disappeared, Morgan's men has- 
 tened until again they could see the old man, who even 
 yet was at a gallop. And now another short stretch of 
 the road was before them, and they saw Squire abruptly 
 draw rein, and ride into a fence corner. When he ap- 
 peared again he was afoot, running down the road. 
 
 When Morgan reached the bend, nothing could be seen 
 in front. The sun had set, and the negro was far down 
 the road. They moved on, Joe Lewis leading Squire's 
 horse. 
 
 Squire had seen the backs of the Federals ; he had 
 known that mounted he could get no nearer undiscovered, 
 and that the horse would excite suspicion. The old man 
 was tough, but it was a hard run to overtake horses now 
 at a trot ; yet at last he saw one of the soldiers turn in 
 the saddle, and at once halt, the others moving forward, 
 but turning one by one and halting. Still old Squire ran 
 on. 
 
 " Say, what the dickens is the row? " 
 
 "Mahsta! . . . Mahsta! . . . you's a-gwine to Yassah! 
 . . . you's a-gwine to," gasped the old man, truly lacking 
 breath and pausing at every word. " Yassah, you's 
 a-gwine to go de wrong way, sah ! " 
 
 " What's that he says ? " shouted the foremost man. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! Says we're going the wrong way, Cor- 
 poral."
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 49 
 
 The men collected about Squire. "What do you mean, 
 man ? Speak out," said the leader. 
 
 The negro could see many expressions in the faces before 
 him expressions of ridicule, fear, doubt and hesitation, 
 indifference, surprise. 
 
 " Mahsta, de Conf eddick sojehs is gawn down dat a- way. 
 Dey's done went down to de fohd." 
 
 " Oh, well, we know that ; but they've all gone across. 
 Much obliged to you all the same, Uncle," said the corpo- 
 ral, a fat young fellow smartly adorned and graceful, with 
 evident pride in his own manners. 
 
 " But, Mahsta, I done seed 'em ; I done seed mo'e of 
 'em, sah seed 'em wi' my own eyes." 
 
 " When did you see them ? " the corporal demanded. 
 
 " Dey was in de fawks o' de road, sah, an' dey rid 
 down dis a- way ; I seed 'em, sah ; hit was dess fo'e sun- 
 down." 
 
 This startling bit of news clearly made a change in the 
 corporal's estimate of the situation. 
 
 " Are there any of them in our rear behind us ? " 
 
 "I b'lieve dey is, sah, onless hit mought be dat dey 
 tuhned roun' an' rid back, sah ; an' dey done scouted down 
 dis road, an' ef you don't mine you gwine to run up awn 
 'em you gwine to heah de bullets a-comin' at shu ef you 
 goes awn tek my wohd, Mahsta, an' go mighty slow." 
 
 " How far is it to the river, Jim ? " 
 
 " Not much over a mile, Corporal." 
 
 " There can be no harm in being cautious. Old man, 
 how many did you see ? " 
 
 Squire hated to lie, but he cared little for a lie that
 
 50 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 stood between himself and Armstrong's advantage. Yet 
 he compromised. 
 
 "Fo'e de Lawd, sah, I didn't see but one, 'caze I was 
 a-peepin' th'ough de bresh, Mahsta ; an' de good book hit 
 say dat whah one man is geathehed togeatheh, dey is mo'e 
 of 'em a-comin' dah, an' I heahed 'em a-comin' dess a 
 gallinup an' a gallinup. Dah now ! I heahed 'em ag'in ; 
 don't shu heah ? De good book hit say you got sheahs 
 an' you don't sheah." 
 
 In truth the corporal had heard ; the sound of hoofs 
 had been distinct, but had died away as Armstrong's horse 
 trod soft ground not three hundred yards ahead. 
 
 " Which way was that ? " he asked, somewhat nervously. 
 
 " Right down the road," answered one of the men. " I 
 guess they are our people." 
 
 " I don't know so much about that. Old man, you've 
 got to obey my orders, or I'll string you up." 
 
 " Oh, Mahsta ! Wat shu gwine to do wid ole Squiah ? 
 Wen I done come to he'p you out, den you gwine to do 
 me dat a-way ? I's a-gwine right back dat I is ! " and 
 the old man turned. 
 
 But one of the troopers blocked the way. " Halt, and 
 don't you be so damned uppish. Nobody's goin' to hurt 
 you, if you'll just behave yourself." 
 
 The corporal must have given further consideration to 
 the necessity of serving a friend in a friendly way ; he 
 said more mildly : " Old man, march straight down this 
 road, and get as near the river as you can. Even if the 
 rebels are there, they won't hurt you." 
 
 Perhaps it was well for Squire that darkness had almost
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 51 
 
 come, and that his face could not be clearly seen. The 
 corporal's plan was of the negro's devising, though the 
 soldier took all the credit for the campaign. Yet it 
 would not do to accede too readily. 
 
 " Den w'at shu gwine to gim me ? " asked the old man. 
 
 " Well, I guess we'll say a dollar ; won't we, men ? " 
 
 The men quickly assented ; under the circumstances, 
 the small contribution required of each would be well 
 invested. 
 
 Old Squire's spirits rose ; he laughed loud and long, 
 loud enough to be heard by Morgan and his men, loud 
 enough to have been heard by Armstrong, had he been 
 alert toward the rear. The old man started down the 
 road, laughing over the easy-to-earn dollar. The cor- 
 poral tried to restrain the negro's merriment, but Squire 
 replied that he would be in less danger by signalling his 
 approach, to which statement the soldier mentally agreed 
 so far as possible danger concerned the negro himself, 
 but deemed it wise to follow this noisy scout at a sure 
 distance. 
 
 Presently old Squire raised his voice in song. One of 
 the old-time melodies, half sacrilegious and at this moment 
 wholly hypocritical, rolled out on the night, the words 
 undistinguishable to any but familiar ears. 
 
 " Sisteh Mary, whah izh you ? 
 
 Whah izh you? 
 Sisteh Mary, whah izh you ? 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews ! 
 
 " Baptis', Baptis', is my name, 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews 1
 
 52 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Baptis', Baptis', is my name, 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews 1 
 
 " Mahs Chahley, whah izh you? 
 
 Whah izh you? 
 Mahs Chahley, whah izh you? 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews 1 
 
 " Yankee, Yankee, dat's dey name, 
 
 Dey's a-comin' right behime ; 
 Yankee, Yankee, six o' seben, 
 Dey's a-ridin' right behime I 
 
 " Mahs Chahley, betteh pray ! 
 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews I 
 Mahs Dan he say go way ! 
 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews 1 " 
 
 Far down the road Armstrong had heard and recog- 
 nized the tune, though not the words ; and through some 
 uncomprehended influence he halted and hearkened. 
 But he had not reached the slope that goes down to 
 the river, and his halt was brief he must go on ; he 
 feared that he was too late to see the ford, yet if enemies 
 were there he hoped to see their camp-fires on either 
 side. He went slowly forward, the song continuing to 
 reach his ears, for the singer prolonged the chorus, 
 repeating and repeating, and once he fancied that the 
 words had been distorted. He reached the brow of the 
 hill, and dismounted ; he would tie his horse here, out- 
 side the road, and go forward afoot. He could see 
 nothing in front except a sunken zone of darker gloom, 
 where the river valley lay no camp-fires, no light in 
 any dwelling. The fence at his right was of stone, that
 
 A SONG SIGNAL 53 
 
 at his left of rails ; he went to the left . . . was not the 
 singer approaching? Surely the voice was louder and 
 clearer, the voice of some negro coming, and who would 
 soon be here. This soldier feared no negro, but he 
 knew the necessity for secrecy negroes were friends to 
 the Yankees, and if one should see him here, his plans 
 would be upset. He began to take down the rails, 
 still keeping bridle in hand. He would hide his horse 
 in some thicket ; he would let this negro pass. 
 
 And now the voice came loud, and Armstrong worked 
 fast to let down the gap, and the words were clearer, and 
 he knew Squire's voice and some of the words, and such 
 wonder took hold of him that for a moment he well-nigh 
 ceased to work, but already the gap was almost low 
 enough, and he passed through just as a man marched 
 by singing clearly, but now not so loudly : 
 
 " Mahs Chahley, git away ! 
 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews 1 
 Git in de bresh an' stay ! 
 
 He's bawn de king o' de Jews ! " 
 
 Armstrong led his horse rapidly from the road, and 
 tied him ; then he crept back, hearing, as he came, the 
 sound of marching horses, too numerous for those of his 
 friends, and hearing still the voice of old Squire singing 
 in the distant front. The Confederate saw and counted 
 his enemies as they rode by his hiding-place ; he knew 
 that Morgan had come and was near at hand ; he under- 
 stood the negro's stratagem, and saw how the distorted 
 song had been employed for his own salvation
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 DELINQUENCY 
 
 " Pryde will have a fall ; 
 For pryde goeth before and shame cometh after." 
 
 HEYWOOD. 
 
 IT was not so dark that Armstrong was unable to see 
 the three riders who soon appeared opposite his hiding- 
 place in the fence corner. As he lay flat, he knew Mor- 
 gan's form outlined against the sky, and Sency's smaller 
 frame, and Joe Lewis's long legs one of them at least 
 and knew also Squire's horse led by Lewis in the rear. 
 They were moving slowly, not abreast, but strung out 
 along the road with spaces of many feet between. Arm- 
 strong gave a low whistle, and as they halted spoke out, 
 " Boys, ride through the gap." They obeyed ; he put up 
 the gap, and led to the thicket. The horses were grazed 
 no telling how long they must wait for Squire. 
 
 Meantime the negro's song had died away. As he ap- 
 proached the river, his fears, relieved in regard to his 
 young master, took larger scope. Would the Federals 
 suspect ? When they should get to the river, and the 
 guards there should say that no Confederates had recently 
 been seen, would not this corporal and his men scour the 
 woods for the party whose nearness the negro had pro- 
 
 64
 
 DELINQUENCY 55 
 
 claimed ? Yes, the guards would tell the corporal that 
 they had been at the ford for hours, and that no enemy 
 had shown himself, and then Squire would be suspected 
 of having made false report for a purpose. Ought he not 
 to slip away ? If he should be seriously questioned, and 
 surely he would be, there would seem no way for his 
 vindication except by stoutly maintaining that the party 
 of rebels were still lurking near, or had ridden along the 
 river seeking to cross at some unguarded spot, and this 
 defence of himself was an alternative too near the truth, 
 too dangerous to his master. Oh, yes, all he had to do 
 was to step aside in the darkness, and let the soldiers go 
 on ; but they would go on, and would soon learn of his 
 abandoning them, and would suspect the truth and would 
 search, and then it would be almost impossible for Mor- 
 gan's men to cross the river. No, Squire would endure 
 much before bringing such a condition to pass . . . be- 
 sides, he wanted that dollar. 
 
 Poor old Squire was in a close place. He felt the con- 
 traction ; it had already closed his voice ; it began to 
 affect his legs. Behind him he could hear the soldiers 
 coming gaining on him ; if he was ever to run, now 
 was the time. 
 
 But Squire did not run ; he halted ; so did the corporal, 
 and the men in his rear. 
 
 The corporal halted because he saw that the negro had 
 halted ; the corporal wanted to know why the negro had 
 halted, but the case demanded silence ; the soldier dared 
 not speak, for there stood the negro, stock still in the 
 road, evidently fearing something in his front.
 
 56 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The corporal rode back to his first man. " Jim," said 
 he, in a low tone, " dismount and go forward and find out 
 what the man means by not going ahead." 
 
 Jim obeyed at once. He halted ten paces in rear of the 
 negro, and asked : " What's the matter ? Why don't you 
 go on ? " 
 
 For all response Squire merely pointed straight down 
 the road. 
 
 Jim looked with all his eyes, but could see nothing to 
 get alarmed at. " What is it ? " he asked. 
 
 "I b'lieve hit's cows, but den ag'in hit mought be 
 bosses, sah. Won't shu please, sah, go awn down dah an' 
 see w'at dey is ? " 
 
 And now the soldier, more clearly directed to the spot 
 under suspicion, could see objects dimly prominent against 
 a background almost equally dark. 
 
 " They are bushes," he said. 
 
 " No, sah ; I done seed 'em move about dah now ! 
 you heah dem cows ? " and the darky, forced by a gentle 
 lowing to admit what he had already known well enough, 
 began to march forward again, having succeeded in gain- 
 ing a little time, in spreading greater nervousness in his 
 guardians, and perhaps in causing them to feel stronger 
 confidence in their scout. 
 
 But Squire's confidence in his ability to dehorn the 
 dilemma had become no greater ; yet a feeble hope was 
 beginning to flutter in his breast, that, so near the river, 
 and still unable to see men or camps, they would find the 
 ford unguarded. Why were they not challenged ? The 
 river was at their left ; the ford was just down the bank,
 
 DELINQUENCY 57 
 
 and at neither right nor left did any fire show, nor did 
 any noise reveal the presence of enemy or friend. 
 
 At every step Squire's hopes grew rapidly, and when 
 he stood at the mouth of the ford, and knew there was no 
 guard, he felt that his case was good. 
 
 " Come awn down, Mahsta," he cried cheerfully ; " dey 
 is all done went acrawst." 
 
 In his rear fifty yards the Federal horsemen had 
 halted ; the corporal ordered to dismount, and he alone 
 rode forward to the negro's position on the verge of the 
 stream. Squire was kneeling. 
 
 " Yassah, heah's de hufs ; dey's all dess a-pintin' 
 acrawst ; an' heah's fresh uns, too ; dey ain't full o' no 
 wateh yit, but de ole uns is done fulled up. I 'spec' dem 
 dat went acrawst fust is done got fifty mile by dis time. 
 Ef you all is a-gwine acrawst, Mahsta, now's de time." 
 
 " Not yet ; we are to guard the ford until " and the 
 corporal abruptly ended his speech, remembering that his 
 orders were not to be divulged. 
 
 The negro's disappointment was so great that he came 
 dangerously near self-betrayal ; but the exclamatipn forced 
 from his lips found excuse in a pretence of losing his foot- 
 hold and almost measuring his length in the mud. 
 
 " Good Lawd ! now I done done it. I sho' thought 
 I's a-gwine into de ribeh." 
 
 " Where's the nearest house ? " asked the corporal. 
 
 Squire did not know, but he knew that he must know, 
 for he had been accepted as a near resident. 
 
 " Didn't shu see dem cows, Mahsta ? " 
 
 "Yes."
 
 58 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Dey b'longs to Mis' Jones's, sah ; leastways I 'spec' 
 so, sah, up awn de hill 'bout a mile back, but dey is some 
 ole houses down in de bottom, sah ; leastways dey was 
 dah oncet, an' dey mus' be dah yit ef de freshet ain't 
 done washed 'em away, sah." 
 
 The corporal rode back to his men, Squire following 
 timidly. 
 
 " Give me a dime apiece, boys ; I'll stand half of it." 
 
 The negro was profuse in thanks ; hat off, he bowed 
 and scraped and lingered and talked, lingered and talked, 
 until he saw one man posted on the river bank, another 
 stationed to guard the rear, and the others preparing to 
 rest under the trees. Then he bade the corporal good-by, 
 and started back on his road, chuckling agreeably, patting 
 his pocket to hear his well-earned coins jingle, humming 
 softly at times humming "Rutheh be a niggeh dan a 
 po' w'ite man." 
 
 But the leaf had not yet been turned on which Squire 
 John's name had been written in that night's book of 
 fate ; before he could reach his friends he must be an 
 actor in an adventure difficult for him, in his present 
 state of mind, to foresee or to avoid. The corporal and 
 his men were merely an extra force sent in advance of 
 Captain Freeman's company, which, having reached 
 Dranesville with horses greatly fatigued, had been ordered 
 to proceed to Rowser's Ford, and march to Frederick on 
 the morrow, leaving a picket at the river. Freeman's 
 march must necessarily be slow, and fresher men and 
 horses had been sent forward to picket the ford until he 
 should arrive.
 
 DELINQUENCY 59 
 
 The negro had made half the distance back to the gap 
 through which Armstrong had escaped, when he heard 
 noises in his front ; he stopped to listen ; soon he knew 
 that horsemen were approaching, a small squad by the 
 sound, certainly not more than three or four. It would 
 have been prudence for Squire to step aside and let the 
 men pass on, but alas ! pride in suddenly acquired wealth 
 had destroyed his usual sense of relations. Ordinarily, 
 he would have roughly and intuitively compared chances 
 those favouring the approach of his friends, and those 
 against ; but in his present state of elation his mind was 
 sealed against adverse possibility ; he never doubted that 
 the coming horsemen were Mahs Chahley and his com- 
 rades, and walked boldly forward into the presence of 
 Freeman's advance guard. 
 
 " Halt ! " came abruptly from a voice new to the negro, 
 almost above him, for he had but turned a bend to find 
 himself confronted by four strange horsemen. 
 
 "Who are you? Give an account of yourself. No; 
 take him back to the captain, O'Donnell ; we must 
 ride on." 
 
 " Oh, Mahsta, I ain't nobody, sah, but ole Squiah. I 
 dess now be'n down to de fohd, sah, to show 'em de way ; 
 dat's all, sah." 
 
 " Bedad, and Oi know that v'ice," said O'Donnell. 
 "Ye're the same ould man who tould us about Margan 
 lahst noight. How the hell did ye get here so quick ? 
 Hwat're ye doing here, now ? " 
 
 Although it was too dark in the woods to see faces, 
 Squire knew at once that a denial would be but vanity.
 
 60 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Yassah. Oh, Mahsta, I's so proud to come up wid 
 ju ag'in dat I is. You come an' tuck Mahs Dan 
 dess as I axed you to dat shu did, an' I hopes he's a- 
 gwine to git well now, feh de good book hit say de Lawd 
 kin save forn de pleg awn thing dat shu ketches in de 
 night " 
 
 " Oh, shut up that. And you too, O'Donnell, take 
 him back. But hold on, one second. Old man, how 
 many of our men are at the ford ? " 
 
 " Six, sah ; dey is good men, too, sah ; dey gim me a 
 dollah feh waitin' awn 'em, sah." 
 
 Between question and answer there had been but the 
 hesitation of the smallest measure of time, Squire 
 considering and resolving instantly that here the truth 
 would serve him yet the sergeant had noticed the 
 hesitation more perhaps by the trembling utterance 
 of the negro's first words in reply than by the lapse 
 itself. 
 
 " Damn him ; O'Donnell, take him back Forward ! " 
 and three men marched on, leaving the negro guarded by 
 the vedette whom he had approached on the preceding 
 night, near the Aldie road, thirty miles away. 
 
 Since ten in the forenoon O'Donnell had ridden almost 
 without a halt. He had come through Hopewell Gap to 
 Centre ville ; thence to Dranesville by sunset ; thence to 
 this spot, almost fifty miles in all. He did not take 
 Squire back, but stood where he was. He would wait for 
 the company to come up. 
 
 " Ould man, I'm damned but ye're in a bad shape 
 intirely. Better make a clane breast of ut now. Ye
 
 DELINQUENCY 81 
 
 may take yer Boible oath Captain Frayman's not a-going 
 to shtand anny nons'nse." 
 
 " Mahsta, I ain't done nothin' wrong. All I done was 
 to show de men de way to de fohd. Izh you all 
 Confeddicks ? " 
 
 " The divil ! You know well enough hwat we are. 
 And was thirn ribels it was that ye wint with to the 
 ford?" 
 
 " No, Mahsta, I went wid de Feddicks to de fohd de 
 good Lincum sojehs, sah. Dey'll tell you all about it, 
 sah. I seed dem dah Confeddicks a-ridin' down de road, 
 an' I tole yo' men, sah, an' dey gim me a dollah, sah, to 
 go wid 'em an' fine out ef de Confeddicks is done got 
 acrawst, sah dat's all." 
 
 The tone of innocence was well-nigh convincing, but 
 O'Donnell's heart was hard against this man that seemed 
 almost independent of locality. 
 
 "Tell yer tale to Captain Frayman here he comes 
 now," and the steady tramp of many hoofs warned the 
 negro that his time for action was brief. Terror had 
 gained on Squire. It needs not to be professed that he 
 was no consistent, invariable hero. Born subject to the 
 influence of detrimental heredity, the germ of his individ- 
 ual merit might never be developed, personal want and 
 personal fears clamouring so continually that time lacked 
 for enlargement of worthier considerations ; then, too, 
 Squire was no Confederate he was simply an Arm- 
 strong, a humble member of a family whose heads had 
 been gods and goddesses from their birth, his hierarchy 
 of palpable divinities to whom he and his fathers and his
 
 62 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 children's children were bound by a fate whose justice 
 was unquestioned and unquestionable. At this moment 
 the negro's fears had blotted old Judy, and even the 
 Armstrongs, from his mind : he thought of nothing but 
 his own mortal peril, and of device for escape. The sol- 
 dier confronted him with drawn revolver ; the distance 
 was not six feet, and the captive had been made to stand 
 in the open road. The old man feared wounds and 
 death; possibly he could run into the bushes and get 
 away before the soldier could empty his pistol, but he 
 lacked the courage to try it. Yet the noise of the ad- 
 vancing cavalry was constantly loudening he must run 
 now, or must risk the rope for having betrayed the Union 
 soldiers. He made a great resolve he would run. . . . 
 
 " And who is ut ye belong to ? " asked O'Donnell. 
 
 " Mahs Chahley," came the prompt reply ; but earlier 
 still had come the negro's return to the actual relations 
 of his life, and to the recognition of the fact that he lived 
 not unto himself alone. No, he settled it there, in that 
 moment, that he could not run ; to escape would be to 
 put Mahs Chahley in danger ; he must submit and wait, 
 and endeavour yet to mislead his master's enemies. 
 
 The company halted. O'Donnell reported to the 
 captain ; " The same ould naygur we had lahst noight, 
 sor," he said. 
 
 " Yassah, I's de same man, Mahsta ; but I ain't a- 
 doin' no hahm, sah." 
 
 " How did you get here ? " asked Freeman. 
 
 "I dess come, sah, to git to see one o' my chillun, 
 sah."
 
 DELINQUENCY 63 
 
 " O'Donnell, does Sergeant Walker preserve his 
 distance ? " 
 
 "He does, sor." 
 
 "Bring this man along with you in the rear, and re- 
 port to me at the ford. Be sure he doesn't give you the 
 slip," and the company marched on, leaving old Squire 
 yet under guard of O'Donnell. 
 
 To the ford it was but half a mile. On arriving, the 
 company replaced the former guards with greater num- 
 bers ; then the tired horses, unfed as yet because the 
 forage wagon had not come, were picketed, and the men 
 prepared to take hard-earned rest. O'Donnell marched 
 Squire up to the captain. 
 
 "Now, old man, I want you to tell me the truth. 
 Understand me ? " asked Freeman, loudly and sternly. 
 
 " Yassah, Mahsta," replied the negro, hat off, bending 
 low, and speaking with all the insinuation of the deepest 
 humility. 
 
 " What time was it when you started from home ? " 
 
 " Bout 'leben o' twelve o'clock, Mahsta ; but I dunno 
 zackly, sah ; hit was in de middle o' de day, but I didn't 
 had no dinneh yit, sah." 
 
 "How far do you call it?" 
 
 " I dunno, sah ; but, Mahsta, I knows dat dis ole man is 
 mighty tiahd, sah ; won't shu lemme seddown, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sit down. Who came with you ? " 
 
 " Wid me ? Nobody 'tall, sah, didn't come but me. I 
 come by myse'f, sah, an' I didn't hatto say a wohd to 
 nobody, sah, tell I seed dern dah Confeddicks way back 
 yandeh, sah ; an' den I didn't hatto say a wohd to de
 
 64 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Confeddicks notheh; but w'en I seed de Feddicks, den I 
 hatto run to tell 'em, sah ; I runned mos' fo'-five mile, 
 sah, an' I is dess about broke down. I tole 'em, sah ; 
 dey'll tell you de troof." 
 
 Freeman sent for the corporal and his men, and ques- 
 tioned them closely, but of course failed to get any defi- 
 nite knowledge of the negro's character. They had paid 
 him a dollar, they said, for guiding them. Yes, he had 
 run after them, and had told them that the rebels were in 
 their front, moving toward the ford. They had seen none, 
 however ; if there had been any, they had doubtless got 
 across long since. 
 
 The captain dismissed the witnesses ; but he was still 
 suspicious, and his suspicions pointed nearly at the truth. 
 He did not believe that this old negro had come afoot 
 thirty miles to see one of his children ; such a thing was 
 possible, of course, but the fact that the same negro had 
 been brought before him on the preceding night was a 
 coincidence he thought remarkable. Freeman believed 
 that a party of Confederates, to whom the slave was 
 attached, had crossed the river on this day, and that his 
 captive had been cut off from them cut off, say, while 
 foraging cut off by the corporal and his little command. 
 And Freeman wanted to know how strong a force it was. 
 He knew that Stuart's main column had crossed on the 
 preceding night perhaps Stuart had been reenforced. 
 
 " Who do you belong to ? " asked Freeman, suddenly. 
 
 "Mahs Chahley Armstrong, sah." 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 " He live down dah, sah, whah you come to git Mahs
 
 DELINQUENCY 65 
 
 Dan Mawgin, sah, but he ain't dah now. Don't shu 
 'membeh me, sah, w'at come to tell you 'bout Mahs 
 Dan?" 
 
 " Yes, I know ; but how was it that you knew his name 
 so well ? " and now Freeman wondered why he had not 
 asked the question on the previous night. 
 
 " Yassah, he done had some lettehs in his pocket, sah, 
 an' dem lettehs, dey tole Mis' Sarah an' Mahs John w'at 
 his name wus, Mahsta." 
 
 It sounded plausible enough ; but the captain was not 
 satisfied. 
 
 " Where is your master now ? " 
 
 "MahsChahley?" 
 
 "Yes, if that's his name." . 
 
 " He done gawn wi' de Confeddicks, Mahsta." 
 
 " Infantry ? " 
 
 If Squire's answer to this question had been truth, per- 
 haps Freeman would have pressed him no further, except 
 to try to learn of movements ; but the negro lapsed. 
 
 " Yassah." 
 
 "What regiment?" 
 
 The old man knew by the tone that he had made a mis- 
 take. Besides, the question was no doubt the first of a 
 series bearing upon organizations inclusive ; some of 
 these, indeed, a slave might well plead ignorance of ; but 
 some he must know for instance, the company in which 
 his master was serving. Squire must recant without 
 confessing. 
 
 "Ginnle Stuaht's, sah." 
 
 " But you said infantry," then in a moment, consider-
 
 66 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 ing an untaught negro's ignorance of words; "are Stuart's 
 men afoot ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, Mahsta ; dey all a-ridin' on dey hosses. My 
 Mahs Chahley, he a-ridin', too, dess lak all de balance." 
 
 " When did you see them last ? " 
 
 " 'Fo'e Gawd, Mahsta, I ain't seed Mahs Chahley sence 
 de day dat Mahs John an' Mis' Sarah an' Miss Lucy all 
 done moved away." 
 
 " How long has that been ? " 
 
 " Hit's be'n, sah ... I couldn't dess tell you how long 
 hit hain't be'n, Mahsta ; hit's be'n a long time, sah ; hit 
 was w'en he come home f'om de battle w'at dey fit on de 
 ribeh, sah." 
 
 " Fredericksburg, or what battle ? " 
 
 " Dat battle whah Ginnle Lee got huht so bad, Mahsta." 
 
 " You mean Jackson ? Stonewall Jackson ? " 
 
 "No, sah ; I means Ginnle Lee, Mahsta." 
 
 The fame of other Lees, in comparison with that of 
 their illustrious kinsman, was much greater to Squire 
 than to Freeman ; and the captain, for some moments, 
 was puzzled. 
 
 " I've never heard that General Lee had been wounded 
 in any battle. Are you not mistaken ? " 
 
 " No, no, sah ; Ginnle Stuaht done hatto make Cunnle 
 Chambliss tek Ginnle Lee's men." 
 
 "Oh, you mean Fitzhugh ?" 
 
 "Yassah," replied the negro quickly, thinking that he 
 detected in the question a desire for affirmative reply. 
 Truth was, however, that Squire's invention had seized 
 upon General W. H. F. Lee.
 
 DELINQUENCY 67 
 
 Nor had Freeman heard that the cavalry general had 
 been wounded ; and perhaps it was well for Squire that 
 he had not, for the battle in question might have been 
 susceptible to the charge of having a date. Freeman was 
 getting very drowsy. If this negro knew anything at all, 
 he was successfully concealing his knowledge. The cap- 
 tain decided to adjourn the meeting. To-morrow he 
 would test this man, and test him severely. 
 
 " Private O'Donnell ! " 
 
 The soldier, who all this time had been standing some 
 yards away, stepped forward. 
 
 " Keep this man under strict guard until further orders. 
 Repeat this order to Sergeant Dow." 
 
 ******* 
 
 The negro determined to get away.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEEP WATER 
 
 " Out of my lean and low ability, 
 I'll lend you something." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 AT that day the southern egress from Rowser's Ford was 
 through a narrow chasm dug with the spade, no doubt, but 
 worn deeper in the bluff by years of travel. The passage 
 itself was almost a mile in length, though not very diffi- 
 cult at low water, and required knowledge of its windings, 
 a deviation being perilous because of the water's depth 
 below the ford on the southern, above it on the northern 
 side. From the great fall of rain up the river on the 23d 
 the stream, although now falling, was still at least eighteen 
 inches above its usual summer stage, and no one that was 
 unfamiliar with the sinuosities of the passage, and at the 
 same time aware of its bad reputation, would have dared 
 to venture across at night. Stuart's column itself had 
 been all night in crossing, the cavalry carrying the artil- 
 lery ammunition in their hands. 1 
 
 1 (" As General Hampton approached the river, he fortunately met a 
 citizen who had just forded the river, who informed us there were no 
 pickets on the other side, and that the river was fordable, though two 
 
 68
 
 DEEP WATER 69 
 
 East of the southern limit some sixty yards, and at 
 equal distance south of the river bank, the guard reserve 
 had been established, and to their post old Squire had 
 been compelled to march. Farther south, on a swell of 
 the ground, was a cluster of young trees, without under- 
 growth ; here the captain's bivouac had been prepared ; 
 still farther were the lines of picketed horses, vigilantly 
 guarded by sentinels at either end of the rows. 
 
 The sergeant on guard duty to-night was an excellent 
 soldier. He had chosen at once the correct positions for 
 the sentinels and for his reserves, the captain approving, 
 and he had now returned from his first relieving round 
 and was lying on his blanket spread upon the grass already 
 wet with dew not lying in the posture of a man who 
 would court sleep, but half reclining with his elbow for a 
 prop, when O'Donnell, escorting old Squire, marched up. 
 
 " Got to kape him, Sergeant." 
 
 " Thought so ; you're not on guard duty ? " 
 
 "Oi'm not, sor ; Oi'm going to get some slape. Who 
 takes charge of this man ? " 
 
 " Here, Laffney, wake up ! " 
 
 A man sat up on his blanket, yawning. " What's up ? 
 I know it's not my time yet." 
 
 " No," said the sergeant, " time's not up ; but we've 
 got a man to guard. Take your piece, and keep watch 
 over this negro here. You may go, O'Donnell." 
 
 feet higher than usual. . . . The residents were very positive that 
 vehicles could not cross. A ford lower down was examined and found 
 quite as impracticahle from quicksand, rocks, and rugged banks." From 
 General Stuart's Report.)
 
 70 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Laffney stood. Old Squire sat upon the wet grass, 
 within a few feet of his guard. The sergeant leaned 
 back upon his elbow and muttered, " Wonder if I hadn't 
 better make a change . . . no, this is all right." 
 
 Stillness had come again stillness complete except 
 for the restlessness of horses yet unfed. 
 
 Between the guards and the bluff was no bush or other 
 obstacle a level space of sixty yards. The gash cut in 
 the bluff by the road was sixty yards above. Here was a 
 sentinel walking back and forth on a semicircular beat of 
 perhaps a hundred and fifty yards, his beat at each end 
 reaching the river bank, his position most distant from 
 the reserve being nearly two hundred yards away. It 
 was the duty of this sentinel to watch the river, and 
 especially the far side of the ford, which, however, would 
 be utterly invisible until daylight ; his rear was protected 
 by the company's vedettes on the road, and his flanks by 
 other guards, on the east by the reserves themselves, on 
 the west by another sentinel beyond whom a vedette had 
 been posted perdu. 
 
 Squire was becoming desperate. Hours had passed ; 
 he had confidence that his friends were still waiting for 
 him waiting, but almost hopeless. He knew that 
 unless they could cross the Potomac this night, Stuart 
 would so far outride them that they would hardly dare 
 to venture. He fancied their suspense, comparing it with 
 his own; how long would it be before they should decide 
 that he was lost to them, and cease to wait ? The thought 
 caused a sudden fear that they had already gone. And 
 the negro's small hope was not in Mahs Chahley, but in
 
 DEEP WATER 71 
 
 Sergeant Morgan and Sency. He knew Armstrong was 
 rash. If at this moment he had heard shout and shot, his 
 surprise would not have been great; but he knew that 
 force was not the means to use for success in his own 
 case, or in theirs, and he knew that Sency and Morgan 
 knew it. How much time did he have ? Perhaps none 
 yet he must try. 
 
 Sitting there on the grass, his hand touched a hard and 
 uneven substance, at first he knew not what. He had 
 been almost at the point of springing to his feet and run- 
 ning hard for the river. Squire was an excellent swimmer, 
 and, once in the water, might laugh at carbines fired into 
 the night. Perhaps the sergeant's soliloquy concerning 
 the advisability of changing his base had been concluded 
 by the reflection that not one prisoner in a thousand 
 would run for deep water under the fire of the guards, 
 and that if this negro should do so, it would be for the 
 purpose not merely to rid himself of present small embar- 
 rassment, but ultimately to escape slavery. But Squire 
 had fully made up his mind : he would reach the river, 
 plunge in, swim far down, and by a circuit reach his 
 friends. The hard object, however, had induced a pause ; 
 he tried to lift it ; it seemed a stump, immovable ; in a 
 moment he knew better ; the thing was of metal, embedded 
 in the earth. He pulled at it again, but failed. Then he 
 began carefully to scrape the earth from its edges with 
 his nails ; he knew now what it was a little broken 
 pot, left here by some campers, no telling how many 
 years before. He continued his work until he was able 
 to shake the thing, and knew that at the opportune
 
 72 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 moment he should have no difficulty in pulling it 
 out. 
 
 Laffney was looking toward the river ; Squire was look- 
 ing at Laffney. Laffney yawned, took a step aside, looked 
 over his left shoulder ... in that last moment the negro 
 sprang to his feet, and, with the broken pot in his hands, 
 was speeding toward the bluff. 
 
 The guard turned at the noise, saw the fleeing form, 
 raised his carbine without a word and fired. 
 
 At this instant the sentinel on Beat No. 1 had started 
 on his tramp westward. He turned, and saw the negro 
 just disappearing over the edge of the bluff ; he fired. 
 
 The sentinel on Beat No. 1 heard a great splash in the 
 water. 
 
 Laffney was running to the bluff. When he reached 
 it, there was nothing. 
 
 Great commotion arose in the company's bivouac ; a 
 stampede threatened, many believing the rebels were 
 upon them ; men were running to their horses ; men 
 were shouting ; horses were stamping and struggling. 
 
 Sergeant Dow, however, had seized upon the fact of 
 the escape, and speedily reported to Captain Freeman, 
 who at once restored quiet. 
 
 " That darky must want to follow his master very bad," 
 said the captain. " I was right in believing that he had 
 been cut off." 
 
 " Maybe he's running for freedom," said Brock. 
 
 " No, I don't believe it ; he would have had no excuse 
 for not saying so. He'd know very well that we'd send 
 him along."
 
 DEEP WATER 73 
 
 " Hawley believes he killed him, sir," said the sergeant ; 
 "says that when he fired, the negro was in the act of 
 springing into the water, and that he never rose. I heard 
 the splash myself." 
 
 " Hawley is a remarkable shot, and has remarkable 
 vision," said Freeman, incredulously. "Brock, give orders 
 for doubling Dow's guards. We don't know a thing ; 
 those shots may bring some inquisitive people upon us. 
 Let everything be alert. Wagon not come yet?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 " More reason to be careful. Brock, have all the men 
 to keep awake and ready for any emergency." 
 
 ***#*# 
 
 Squire had not felt the touch of lead or of water. On 
 the brink of the bluff he had thrown the pot into the 
 stream, and at once had leaped, not outward, but down- 
 ward, risking the typical place underneath him a nar- 
 row shelving shore from which the waters had receded. 
 He had landed safely, his feet deep in the mud, and at 
 once had crawled down the river, keeping under the bluff 
 upon which the guards quickly stood. Soon there was no 
 need of crawling ; and he rose to his feet and climbed the 
 bluff. He stopped, and looked up the river; he could see 
 nothing, but could hear the noise of the alarm. 
 
 " Dem men not a-gwine to quit hunt'n' feh dis ole nig- 
 geh," he thought. " I betteh be a-gitt'n' fuddeh; hit ain't 
 no sense in ole Squiah stayin' 'bout sheah no mo'e." 
 
 He turned to go on down ; before him he could see 
 deeper blackness, which he knew was a wooded hill; he 
 would get to the wood, then fetch a bend and make his
 
 74 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 way back to his friends, and report the ford guarded; the 
 little squad could not cross. Suddenly he stood still on 
 the brink of a chasm; another step and he should have 
 fallen. He got down on his knees, and could see the 
 opposite wall of the ravine. He scrambled to the bottom, 
 not more than ten feet, and bent his way to the river, 
 chuckling. 
 
 An hour later, almost exhausted, he reached the spot 
 where he had warned Armstrong. He climbed the fence 
 and marched north, whistling a low note. 
 
 " George," said Morgan, interrupting Squire's report 
 that the ford was guarded, " do you know any other ford 
 near by ? " 
 
 " None nearer than the one just below Edwards Ferry," 
 said Sency. 
 
 " Too far up ; eight or ten miles. We must risk it 
 below." 
 
 " Mahs Dan, dey's anotheh fohd down dah I mos' fell 
 into de road, an' den I didn't do nothin' but go down de 
 road to de wateh. Hit's a fohd feh true, 'caze I seed 
 whah de people be'n a-gwine acrawst, an' I knows dat 
 ef dey kin go acrawst, we kin too, leastways ef dat dah 
 Cap'm Freeman an' his men don't sheah us a-comin' ; dey 
 is mighty clost." 
 
 " Captain Freeman ? The same man we saw to-day ? " 
 
 "Yassah, he de ve'y same man, an' he s'picion me 
 pow'ful. He look at me lak he think me de debble." 
 
 " Got his whole company with him ? " 
 
 "Yassah." 
 
 " How far above the place you saw? " asked Sency.
 
 DEEP WATER 75 
 
 "Not mo'e'n a quauteh." 
 
 "We must risk it," Morgan exclaimed. "Think we 
 can make it, Squire? " 
 
 " Yassah ; de good book hit say de Lawd kin mek He 
 chillun go th'ough de sea dess lak hit's dry groun'." 
 
 "Squire, you're a man all over. I wouldn't fail to 
 cross to-night for well, if we should fail to-night, we'd 
 never catch up, and then what would the general say? 
 Boys, we must try it." 
 
 " We can't afford not to try it," said Armstrong. 
 
 Squire mounted, and made ready to lead the way. 
 
 " Mahs Dan, dem Yankee sojehs is a-watchin' mighty 
 clost. Dey ain't got a mou'ful feh dey hosses. Dey dess 
 be'n a 'spectin' ev'y minute 'at dey waggin'd come up, 
 but hit ain't come up yit." 
 
 "Lead on, Squire. Give 'em a wide berth." 
 
 They were in motion toward the road, riding in single 
 file, when noises were heard. Squire halted, and his 
 followers closed up. 
 
 "Mahs Dan, hit's dat waggin a-comin' now. Don't 
 shu heah de wheels?" 
 
 "Yes," whispered the sergeant, "and that wagon 
 ought to be ours; but we can't spare the time." 
 
 The noises came nearer. They could hear the tramp of 
 a squad of cavalry, and voices, and the lumbering of the 
 wagon in the rear. They still waited, for fear of a rear- 
 guard; but soon all sounds ceased, and Squire started 
 again, the soldiers riding silently one by one. 
 
 At length, past midnight, they halted on the river 
 bank; at once Armstrong dismounted.
 
 76 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Boys, it's my time now," he said, taking his picket 
 rope from his saddle. 
 
 " Better strip, Charley," said Sency. 
 
 "That's just what I'm going to do." 
 
 Morgan walked up the river bank to reconnoitre ; when 
 he returned he found Armstrong ready to lead the way 
 into the water. The ford was unknown ; the stream was 
 wide and deep ; any misstep might be fatal. 
 
 " Charley," said the sergeant, " don't be in haste. 
 Those men back there are as busy as bees. The wagon 
 has come up, and they are feeding. Take your time, 
 now." 
 
 Armstrong walked into the water. He had in his hand 
 a slender pole, more than ten feet long ; to his body was 
 tied his picket rope, the other end fastened to Morgan's 
 arm. Following Morgan came old Squire, while Lewis, 
 leading Armstrong's horse, brought up the rear. 
 
 The moon had gone down, but the surface of the river 
 could be seen. Armstrong slowly waded on with the 
 water constantly deepening until it was up to his armpits ; 
 a moment more and he was swimming. 
 
 Morgan had halted. He felt the rope get taut; then 
 he pulled steadily and brought the swimmer back to 
 standing ground. 
 
 Now Armstrong waded to the right as far as his rope 
 would allow, but found deeper water. He came back and 
 waded to his left ; here the water still took him almost to 
 his shoulders ; but he moved on some forty yards, Morgan 
 following. 
 
 Again the leader struck straight forward, the water
 
 DEEP WATER 77 
 
 lessening in depth. He was beginning to believe that he 
 had found the right way ; yet again the water deepened, 
 and he paused. The rapid river was hard to withstand 
 not only was strength required to force his way forward, 
 he must also resist the downward rush of the water ; he 
 would take breath. 
 
 As yet not a word had been spoken. The nearness of 
 the Federal cavalry was such that over the surface of the 
 river sounds might easily reach them. At length Arm- 
 strong, feeling rested, decided that he must make another 
 advance. He would try the right again; he leaned his 
 body in that direction ; he struggled to move, but could 
 not ; he felt himself sinking fast, his feet embedded in 
 quicksand; he struggled again, but could not move his 
 feet ; he shouted, and Morgan pulled, but seemed to pull 
 against a rock. His horse was stiff in his tracks on a 
 bottom fairly firm, but the body of his guide was immov- 
 able. Again Armstrong shouted, and at the instant a 
 shot was heard on the river bank above them, and then 
 loud voices, and the sound of running, and another shot. 
 
 " I's a-comin', Mahs Chahley," cried old Squire, mak- 
 ing his horse plunge to Morgan's side. 
 
 "Hold on there, sir. What do you mean to do?" 
 asked the sergeant. 
 
 "I's a-gwine to my Mahs Chahley." 
 "No ; just take hold here, and help pull." 
 The strength of two arms speedily drew the exhausted 
 man back to safety. Meantime, in their rear, the noises 
 had increased, and they knew that men were running 
 down the river bank.
 
 78 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " I'm a-thinkin' we'd better go ahead," said Joe, from 
 the rear. 
 
 " Silence," said Morgan. He had no thought that they 
 should be pursued into the water, and they were already 
 too far to be seen ; all he feared was some shot fired in 
 the darkness at a noisy target. 
 
 Armstrong was too weak to continue ; he stood in the 
 water, leaning against Morgan's horse. 
 
 " Go back and tell Mr. Lewis to bring up your Mahs 
 Charley's horse," the sergeant whispered to Squire. 
 
 " Yassah, an' den w'at shu gwine to do, Mahs Dan ? " 
 
 "I'm going to lead, just as he was doing." 
 
 " No, sah, you dess lemme lead, Mahs Dan. De good 
 book hit say de las' gwine to be de fust, an' I knows I ain't 
 high, an' I can't do nothin' in de wateh; but I's dess 
 a-gwine awn dry so widout gitt'n' awff o' dis hoss, Mahs 
 Dan." 
 
 Now there was a great uproar, men shouting on the 
 bank directly in the rear. Morgan felt that Squire was 
 right something must be done at once, and the least 
 risk was in doing what the negro wanted to do. Squire 
 was a light-weight, and his horse could therefore lead with 
 the minimum of peril to all. 
 
 Lewis ranged alongside and helped Armstrong, naked, 
 to mount. 
 
 Then Squire forged ahead, giving his horse the bridle. 
 
 " Dish sheah critteh mought ha' be'n acrawst sheah 
 bef o'e now," muttered the old man to himself, " an' den 
 ag'in he moughtn't ; but I knows he got he haid down clost 
 whah he kin smell de bottom, an' ef he ain't got 'nough
 
 DEEP WATER 79 
 
 sense to keep he foot out o' de bog, he ain't fitten feh 
 dawg meat. De good book hit say de hoss got lots o' 
 sense ; leastways hit don't say he ain't got none." 
 
 Whether it was that Squire's trust in instinct was more 
 accurate than his knowledge of Scripture, or that accident 
 favoured him, his beast turned to the right at a sharp 
 angle and was soon on better ground for depth, and though 
 the passage now was full of jagged rocks, they were mak- 
 ing good headway in the middle of the stream. The 
 noise in the rear continued, and scattering shots warned 
 them to hasten. Morgan feared that the northern end 
 of Rowser's Ford was guarded and that the guards there, 
 hearing the shots, would come down the river and head 
 them off ; so he rode almost by Squire's side, urging on. 
 The water again became very deep. Once Squire felt 
 that his horse was swimming, but in an instant bottom was 
 touched, and then the shore loomed close at hand. 
 
 Morgan ordered Squire to halt, and all the party ranged 
 alongside in the water. They listened intently, fearing 
 foes on the bank ; but in their front, and now at the south 
 as well, there was no sound. Yet the sergeant would be 
 prudent. He could not know whether the exit was strongly 
 guarded, but he was going to take the venture. They could 
 not now return, and he gathered his men and prepared 
 to force the passage. He made Squire take the rear ; he 
 waited until Armstrong had succeeded in partly clothing 
 himself ; then, with weapons ready, he led the way into 
 Maryland.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 " I beseech you, what manner of man is he ? " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 A COMRADE farming near Haymarket informed Usher 
 West that Mosby had already disappeared, having gone 
 with a few picked men to the Potomac to find out for 
 Stuart's benefit the condition of the fords, and had left 
 orders for the remainder of the band to stay quietly at 
 their homes until served with further notice. 
 
 " Jennie," said Mr. West, in low tones, " did you know 
 that Usher has come ? " 
 
 " Yes, Father ; I let him in and kept him from going to 
 his room." 
 
 Her fine, strong hands were white with flour ; she stood 
 at the kitchen window fronting the sunrise, her father on 
 the outside. 
 
 " Your sleep was lighter than mine, then, for I didn't 
 hear him ; but I find his horse in the stable. What did 
 you tell him ? " 
 
 " Only that his room had guests in it. What are we to 
 do?" she asked. 
 
 " I must tell him everything before he gets up ; he may 
 not want Dr. Lacy to see him." 
 
 80
 
 A LIVE PUZZLE 81 
 
 " I'm afraid he won't like what we've done," said the 
 girl. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 " Because it may keep him from home, Father. When 
 he can be at home he wants to stay ; and I know, too, 
 though he never says so, that he's always afraid he'll 
 bring trouble upon you and me if he's found out." 
 
 Mr. West looked very serious. Mosby's men were 
 peculiarly obnoxious to the Federal authorities, who 
 devised many plans for their capture, and sometimes 
 refused to treat them as mere prisoners of war until they 
 could show proof of regular enlistment in the Confed- 
 erate army. The fact was that there were other bands 
 unjustly classed as Mosby's men, most frequently such 
 as would join together for a single purpose and then dis- 
 solve forever which did little else than plunder. Mosby 
 was a partisan, yet in legitimate service, and his enter- 
 prises were directed mainly against the Federals' line of 
 communications, in order that a feeling of insecurity 
 might prevail throughout their army ; but his fame has 
 suffered because of irregularity in the conduct of some 
 of his men and more because of the deeds of bush- 
 whackers with whom he had no connection. 
 
 "He may be compelled to hide out, Jennie." 
 
 " You haven't much time to lose, Father, if you are go- 
 ing to see him before he wakes ; breakfast will be ready 
 in half an hour." 
 
 " How was Morgan last night ? " 
 
 " No change at all ; he just lay there with his eyes 
 open." 
 
 G
 
 82 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 At first, hardly roused from sleep, Usher gave speech 
 to great dissatisfaction ; but when told all the circum- 
 stances, he said that his father could not have acted dif- 
 ferently, and that it would be best to meet Dr. Lacy. 
 Usher was not going to deprive himself of the comforts 
 of home on account of a wounded Federal, and he knew 
 very well how much to tell of himself to the surgeon and 
 how much to withhold. So at breakfast he was intro- 
 duced as the son of the farmer, a Confederate soldier on 
 leave of absence, and Lacy did not permit himself to ask 
 possibly indiscreet questions, though he wondered how 
 Lee in the present campaign could afford to grant fur- 
 loughs to strapping fellows such as the one he saw on his 
 right. 
 
 " And how is your patient, Doctor ? " asked Miss West. 
 
 " Our patient," he replied, with a stress on the pronoun. 
 "You must not endeavour to shirk responsibility, Miss 
 West ; he is just as he was, only he went to sleep very 
 quickly after you left last night and is asleep yet. I 
 shall probe for that ball just as soon as I think he has 
 the strength to bear it. I regard the extraction all- 
 important." 
 
 " Is he of the cavalry, Doctor ? " asked Usher, pretend- 
 ing ignorance. 
 
 "Yes a courier I think I've heard that was his 
 position and I reason he must have been in close action 
 when he was shot ; it seems to be a pistol-ball." 
 
 " Last week ? " 
 
 " Yes, the twenty-first. Some persons admitted him 
 to their home, where he remained until yesterday ; we
 
 A LIVE PUZZLE 83 
 
 should have had him in the hospital at Washington but for 
 your friend Stuart. Mr. West, you were saying yesterday 
 that it might become your duty to notify the Confeder- 
 ate forces so that they could demand his parole ; now I 
 have thought that Morgan's delivery to us debars you ; 
 how does that thought impress you?" 
 
 " Possibly it does, not formally, perhaps, but actually. 
 What do you think of it, Usher?" 
 
 " Think you ought to let the man alone, sir. Doctor, 
 I'll make a bargain with you : you keep mum about me 
 to your folks, and I'll keep our fellows off while you're 
 here." 
 
 "Agreed!" exclaimed the doctor. "A very generous 
 offer on your part, young man, for of course the kindness 
 of this family would ever prevent me from bringing 
 trouble here. And even if the authorities should know 
 that my kind host has a son in the Confederate army, 
 what of that ? " 
 
 " But I don't see the thing quite so plainly," said Mr. 
 West. "I am called on to aid a wounded man, and that's 
 all right as far as it goes ; but to wink at his escape when 
 he is practically a prisoner, looks like a different thing. 
 Of course the Confederates had no claim upon him after 
 they gave him up, but you find that you can't keep him 
 and actually throw him back on us. Have you not re- 
 nounced your claim?" 
 
 " Really, Father, he has never been a prisoner, and is 
 not one now," said Jennie, her voice too low for Lacy to 
 catch all her words. 
 
 " Not strictly, I admit. But what I think of is the
 
 84 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 duty of a citizen, not that of a soldier. I suppose that 
 my son here, in the absence of his commander, has perfect 
 right to make a bargain with the doctor by the way, 
 Doctor, you say that a truce was made between your 
 forces and the Confederate forces which proved to be one 
 man. Can you tell me when that peculiar truce expired ? " 
 
 The surgeon laughed. " That truce was indeed pecul- 
 iar ; it was demanded, so far as I have been able to learn, 
 by the family which was taking care of Morgan, the 
 Armstrongs, and the messenger they sent was an old 
 negro named Judge." 
 
 " No, Squire," said Jennie. 
 
 " Yes, Squire ; a very ignorant old man " 
 
 "The shrewdest old chap in the Confederate States!" 
 exclaimed Usher. 
 
 " Is it possible ? I shouldn't have thought it. He was 
 very ignorant of everything except that he had been sent 
 to see us and arrange for turning over Lieutenant Morgan. 
 He said the Confederate forces were not going to fight us if 
 we'd put up the white flag ! And of course we thought 
 that there was some scouting party with which we should 
 have to deal, some squad or platoon that couldn't take 
 Morgan away, but when we got there we found nobody 
 at all except one soldier with his head and face bandaged, 
 and the old negro himself. If this so-called truce is not 
 binding, sir, we are simply at your mercy, Mr. West." 
 
 " I have nothing but my conscience to guide me in this 
 matter, Doctor," interrupted Mr. West ; " although 
 there was no truce in due form, yet it was accepted as 
 such by both parties, and I think one ought to be bound
 
 A LIVE PUZZLE 85 
 
 by it just as if General Lee or General Stuart had been 
 back of it." 
 
 " Then, sir, the truce still holds, if I understand truces; 
 the purpose of this one has not been fulfilled. A Confed- 
 erate soldier rank and character unknown to me asks 
 to deliver us a wounded man whom he cannot provide for ; 
 he delivers him and goes away ; then other Confederates 
 intervene and prevent the accomplishment of the purpose 
 for which he asked the truce had they the right ? " 
 
 " No, and yes ; they had the military right to ignore an 
 invalid truce, but have I the moral right ? The question 
 concerns my conduct, not Stuart's. You cannot suppose 
 that General Stuart was bound in any sense to suspend his 
 march because of that truce ? " 
 
 " Certainly not, Mr. West ; yet suppose that General 
 Stuart had known the circumstances in all detail, do you 
 think he would have stopped my ambulance on the 
 road ? " 
 
 " I know he wouldn't," exclaimed Usher. 
 
 Mr. West considered : better not express reluctance 
 that he did not really feel ; the doctor seemed honestly 
 apprehensive ; it would be but common kindness to allay 
 his fears. 
 
 " I am about to persuade myself that I have not the 
 right to interfere," said the farmer truth was that he 
 had never intended to interfere. 
 
 " I'll stand by that truce," exclaimed Usher ; " I was 
 in the hands of your people once, Doctor, and shall never 
 forget your kind treatment." 
 
 " What battle was it ? " asked Dr. Lacy, causing mo-
 
 86 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 mentary dismay to two of his hearers ; but the one most 
 interested calmly replied : " No battle, Doctor, no regular 
 engagement just one of the little skirmishes that we 
 cavalry folks are always getting into. It was last winter, 
 down on the Rappahannock." 
 
 From the first Lacy had observed that Usher was not 
 wearing uniform, and had wondered ; yet tastes are dif- t 
 ferent, he thought. He himself had laid aside his uniform 
 here, and when on furlough always elected to go as a 
 simple citizen. 
 
 "Yes," he said, "many of the skirmishes are unnamed." 
 
 " Not enough names to go round," said Usher. 
 
 " As you say ; even the names of some great battles are 
 in duplicate, as Bull Run, for instance. A serious wound, 
 may I ask ? " 
 
 " No, sir, an accident, really ; my horse ran under a limb 
 and I was knocked off; disabled for a couple of weeks only." 
 
 " When were you exchanged ? " Lacy asked the ques- 
 tion indifferently, moved by the necessity for showing a 
 little interest that he did not feel. Mr. West glanced at 
 Jennie, and saw that she was thoroughly composed. Usher 
 at once replied : " Oh, never, sir ; I got away in a scram- 
 ble that came up. I was recaptured while in one of your 
 field hospitals. I'll tell you all about it," and then the 
 young man went on to narrate one of his leader's daring 
 raids, without giving names or disclosing the fact that his 
 rescue had been achieved by his own comrades. 
 
 " That is very interesting," said the surgeon, dreamily ; 
 doubtless he was imagining the possibility of such a deed 
 in his own favour.
 
 A LIVE PUZZLE 87 
 
 " And I'll tell yow, Dr. Lacy, and I don't care who 
 knows it, that it's part of my creed to give and take. 
 You needn't fear my giving your hiding-place away, and 
 you needn't fear my father, either, for all he is so particu- 
 lar." 
 
 Mr. West smiled feebly at this, but nodded his head, as 
 much as to say that the question was settled. 
 
 Lacy rose. " I must be with Morgan. Miss West, you 
 and I are going to get him to take some food of some sort 
 this morning, if you please." 
 
 " Yes, Doctor ; what shall it be ? " 
 
 " Can you get me a little chicken soup ? " 
 
 " Thickened ? We have no rice, but I can use flour." 
 
 "No, only the thinnest broth." 
 
 " At once, Doctor ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I should be glad to have it as soon as you can 
 give it to me." 
 
 Usher went into the kitchen with his sister. 
 
 "Those men are outrageously in my way, Jennie. I 
 thought I should have a good rest at home, and now I 
 must be on my p's and q's all the time. I wonder how 
 long they'll be here." 
 
 " There's no telling, Usher. It may be a month." 
 
 " Our army has all gone across the river ; so have the 
 Yankees, but some of them are at Centreville and Fairfax, 
 and could come after these men at any time. Why can't 
 we send them word ? " 
 
 " And who would go for us ? " she asked. 
 
 "I'll find a way if you'll get that Yankee doctor to 
 write a note."
 
 88 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " I'd never propose such a thing." 
 
 "Then I'll ask Father." 
 
 " But he won't do it. You see that he almost wants to 
 give them up to the Confederates. Where are the nearest 
 Confederates, Usher ? " 
 
 "Blest if I know. Culpeper, I reckon." 
 
 Jennie smiled at this. Culpeper was far away. 
 
 " Then Winchester, or possibly the gap," said Usher, 
 meaning Ashby's. 
 
 "I hope he'll get back to his own people," she said. 
 
 " Yes, I'm willing to that ; all I ask is, not to be run out 
 of house and home." 
 
 " They won't trouble you, Usher. Dr. Lacy is in too 
 great distress to think of giving you trouble." 
 
 " Yes, but when he goes back, won't he tell ? " 
 
 " No ; I have no idea that he knows anything. " 
 
 " Yes, but the mischief of it is that to keep him from 
 knowing anything I've got to be careful every time I open 
 my mouth. And then again, suppose Joe Dixon or Lem 
 Roberts should happen to come over and blab. I'm going 
 to notify them all, so they'll keep out of the way." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " she cried. 
 
 "Why not?" 
 
 "Because they would tell everybody, and somebody 
 would be sure to cause trouble." 
 
 " Well, I'll try to keep 'em off some way." 
 
 He started to go, but turned again, and said, "Say, 
 Jennie, I saw Charley Armstrong the other day." 
 'Well?" she said, looking curious. 
 ' He was trying to catch up with Stuart. Asked about
 
 A LIVE PUZZLE 89 
 
 the folks here ; you know who he meant, you little hypo- 
 crite." 
 
 He laughed loudly, and started, saying that he was go- 
 ing to the mountain and should not be back before night. 
 
 Mr. West busied himself about the farm, and the sur- 
 geon was with his patient. Lacy felt himself peculiarly 
 fortunate in his host, whose character was so open, he 
 thought. If the farmer had professed to be a Union man, 
 there would be strong reason for doubting him, and for 
 always fearing betrayal. Your Virginia fellow-citizen be- 
 came a Unionist only through compulsion, and disavowed 
 his conduct just as soon as the Confederates gained the 
 upper hand. 
 
 One thing, however, gave the surgeon a shade of anx- 
 iety: this young fellow Usher, who was so earnest in his 
 assurance of sympathy ; this soldier who gave no date or 
 name to the fight in which he had been wounded, and was 
 silent as to the organization to which he belonged, who 
 could get leave of absence at a most critical time to his 
 cause, and went without uniform all these considerations 
 gave rise to uneasiness. Still, to take it on the whole, the 
 surgeon thought he might have gone farther and fared 
 worse : this young woman was charming and strong, if in- 
 deed somewhat unsophisticated ; she would be a great help 
 in pulling Morgan through. Women, you know, if they 
 have good sense, are the best of nurses, and this one 
 seemed highly endowed with that rare feminine quality. 
 He thought the daughter the stronger, when he compared 
 her with Usher, yet he admitted that the man might be 
 concealing his powers, with some purpose, though for
 
 90 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 what purpose he could not imagine ; evidently there was 
 mystery, for ordinarily a soldier will let you know at once, 
 and with pride, the command to which he is attached, and 
 if he has been distinguished by wounds he will tell you all 
 about the important matter ; then, too, Lacy had been 
 alert enough to perceive, and with some wonder, that 
 Usher, in his narration of the adventure which had for one 
 of its results his own release from captivity, had avoided 
 giving the names of the leaders in the daring exploit a 
 thing hard to do when you come to think of it. All these 
 things tended to disturb Lacy, not that he felt great fear, 
 but simply because he had not yet reached a logical solu- 
 tion of what he regarded in the light of a small mystery; 
 and all through the morning, while with Miss West's help 
 he served his patient faithfully, he found his mind wan- 
 dering from his important work and fastening on Usher 
 West. When dinner came the son of the household 
 assumed still greater prominence, for what rebel on 
 furlough was ever known to miss a meal ? Lacy's be- 
 wilderment became almost extreme : a puzzle was here 
 challenging him ; he determined to lay hold of it ; 
 puzzles were his natural prey.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 DAHLGREN 
 " And what he greatly thought, he nobly dared." 
 
 POFE. 
 
 GENERAL STUART, in his report of the operations of 
 the Confederate cavalry in the Gettysburg campaign, 
 tells us that early on the morning of the 28th of June he 
 marched from the Maryland end of Rowser's Ford for 
 Rockville. As a matter of fact it was fully midnight of 
 the 27th when the rear of Stuart's column succeeded in 
 crossing, and at once a rest was ordered until nearly nine 
 o'clock ; but for this delay Morgan's men would no doubt 
 have found their purpose impracticable. 
 
 Rockville is northeast from Rowser's Ford some twelve 
 miles, and it was past noon when Stuart's head of column 
 entered the village. Here small parties of the Federals 
 were seen, but they retired at once. Before the column 
 passed through Rockville a long wagon train was reported 
 in sight, coming from Washington, and W. H. F. Lee's 
 brigade was ordered to seize it. This work took up the 
 remainder of the afternoon, so that it was night when 
 Stuart left Rockville for Brookeville, twelve miles north. 
 At Brookeville he halted until morning, for the purpose of 
 paroling prisoners. Hence when Morgan's men got across 
 
 91
 
 92 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 the river, the rear of the Confederate column was still at 
 Brookeville, but twenty-four miles away. 
 
 No man in Morgan's party had ever ridden through the 
 country beyond Rowser's ; yet Sency had learned much 
 concerning the villages and roads, and especially in regard 
 to the political feelings of the people. 
 
 "Dan, we must make for Quarles's," he said, giving the 
 name of a Southern sympathizer. 
 
 " Know how far it is, or anything about it ? " asked 
 the sergeant. 
 
 " No ; better send Squire on ahead to ask at the first 
 house. All I know is that it's somewhere about here." 
 
 " Squire, ride on hard and ask the first people you see 
 where Mr. Quarles lives. Wake 'em up, if need be, and 
 be on the lookout for us." 
 
 " Yassah ; Misteh Squalls's ? " 
 
 " Mr. Simpson Quarles," said Sency, and repeated. 
 
 Armstrong had recovered his strength ; but Morgan 
 thought best not to push the horses, and Squire hastened 
 ahead, and did his work so well that before sunrise they 
 saw him waiting at the mouth of a lane. 
 
 " Misteh Squalls, he say you mus' come up dah, Mahs 
 Dan ; he say he not a-gwine to talk to no dam niggeh ; 
 he say ef w'at shu want to know is all right you kin come 
 up, an' ef hit ain't all right shu betteh go 'long 'bout sho' 
 bus'ness. Dat Misteh Squalls hese'f w'at tell me. Wen 
 I axed him de road to Misteh Squalls's, he up an' he say 
 he de man, an' dat he at he own house, an' dah he gwine 
 to stay." 
 
 Sency rode toward the house, his comrades waiting.
 
 DAHLGREN 93 
 
 For more than six months George had been held by 
 wounds at Mr. Radman's, ten miles above this spot held 
 secretly for fear of captivity ; he knew that Quarles was 
 friendly, but that was all he. knew. There were evidences 
 of prosperity, well-tilled fields on one side and well-kept 
 fences. The place was highly respectable, the outbuild- 
 ings having been newly painted, while the dwelling was 
 almost imposing a much more pretentious residence 
 than the humble home of Mr. Radman. Sency began to 
 fear that he was making a mistake, and was almost ready 
 to renounce ; but he had seen a man in his shirt sleeves 
 standing in the front porch, and he decided to go on. He 
 hitched his horse and approached afoot. 
 
 " Good morning, sir," said George. 
 
 " Good morning," was the reply, curt enough. 
 
 The man was about sixty, gray-bearded, short, but 
 strong-looking ; rather fierce in his manner, thought 
 George. 
 
 " You are Mr. Quarles Simpson Quarles ? " 
 
 "That is my name, sir." 
 
 An awkward silence followed ; evidently each doubted 
 the other, and wanted him to open. 
 
 " I hear Stuart has crossed," said the Confederate, as a 
 compromise. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Do you know it to be true ? " 
 
 "It is true." 
 
 Not much of an opening. Sency must develop. 
 
 " Can you tell me where he is now ? " 
 
 "I cannot. I suppose there are but few men who
 
 94 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 know where he is now, and they are immediately about 
 him." 
 
 Perhaps every man has a weakness. Quarles was no 
 exception he smiled at his victory over Sency. The 
 soldier hastened to acknowledge defeat. 
 
 "You certainly got me that time. A friend of mine 
 told me it wouldn't do for any common man to tackle 
 
 you." 
 
 " And you are a common man ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Common to what ? " 
 
 " Only a private soldier common to thousands," 
 replied Sency. 
 
 " Who is that friend you talkin' about ? " 
 
 " Oh, well, I won't call any names ; but he's a friend 
 of yours." 
 
 " What do you know about him ? " continued Quarles. 
 
 " I know that he proved a friend in need. I owe him 
 everything, sir far more than I can ever repay." 
 
 " For what ? " 
 
 " He took care of me when I was unable to go." 
 
 " What did he tell you about me ? " 
 
 Quarles had become the questioner. 
 
 " Nothing whatever to your disadvantage, but much in 
 your favour, according to my way of looking at things." 
 
 " What things ? " The farmer was eying his visitor 
 sharply. The man might be the opposite of what he 
 seemed might be a man sent to entrap him into trea- 
 sonable confessions. 
 
 " The war," was George's reply.
 
 DAHLGREN 95 
 
 " What about the war ? " 
 
 The question might bring truth to light ; there were 
 two parties even at the North ; many there, although for 
 the Union in sentiment, had tired of the long war, and 
 wanted it to stop on almost any honourable conditions, 
 and now with Lee in Pennsylvania and a decisive battle 
 imminent a battle on which would depend the safety of 
 the Capital or of Baltimore the peace party had become 
 bold. 
 
 " I'd like to see it stop," said George, " and you know 
 you would, too." 
 
 " Yes," says Quarles, indifferently, " I suppose every- 
 body wants it to stop except the contractors and the 
 officers who are hoping for promotion but stop how f " 
 
 " Your views are all right." 
 
 " But I don't know " perhaps Mr. Quarles had been 
 going to say "yours," and had thought better of it. 
 
 " You mean to say that you don't know mine ? I can 
 speedily prove to you what I am, sir," exclaimed Sency, 
 with great earnestness. 
 
 " How does that concern me f But go ahead, and do 
 your proving." 
 
 " I was born at Warrenton, Virginia, in 1843." 
 
 " That proves nothing, even if it be admitted." 
 
 "I studied at the Virginia Military Institute at 
 Lexington." 
 
 Quarles nodded slightly, but said nothing ; indeed, his 
 nod might mean a shake. 
 
 " I was under Professor Jackson afterward Stone- 
 wall Jackson."
 
 96 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "You are proving nothing at all." 
 
 " I have in my pocket an old furlough that bears the 
 signatures of Fitzhugh Lee, Stuart, and R. E. Lee." 
 
 " Let me look at that document, if you please," says 
 Quarles. 
 
 Sency brought it from his breast pocket a lengthwise 
 folded sheet, on the back of which were the words, " For- 
 warded approved " " Forwarded approved," with three 
 signatures, followed by the great general's autograph, 
 giving the final indorsement. 
 
 Quarles handed it back. " Yes, I suppose such things 
 can be had." 
 
 " Do you know a man named Radman ? " Sency asked. 
 
 "I know more than one Radman." 
 
 "And you know Tom Radman's middle name so 
 do I." 
 
 "What is it?" 
 
 "You know as well as I that he never tells it 
 Butler." 
 
 " Pretty good ; anything else ? " 
 
 " I know one more thing, and if that doesn't convince 
 you, then good-by Mr. Quarles ! " 
 
 "Let's have that one thing." 
 
 " Little Mac is a gentleman," whispered the Con- 
 federate. 
 
 " Come in," said Mr. Quarles, but at the same instant 
 he stretched out his clenched fist he had seen one of his 
 labourers passing with face to the porch and cried, 
 "Get out of here, you damned rebel! " then whispered to 
 the visitor turning in amazement, " Wait down at the road."
 
 DAHLGREN 97 
 
 Mr. Quarles was not long in coming. He gave all 
 needed information in regard to the roads and the 
 country, but knew nothing of the movements of the 
 Federal cavalry. He advised the Confederates to hide 
 now, and make their way by night, for it was rumoured 
 that Stuart's enemies were gathering in his front and 
 rear. 
 
 " We must go on, sir," said Morgan. *' Every hour's 
 delay increases the danger." 
 
 " Your horses are none of the best," said Quarles ; " and 
 I don't see the U. S. brand on a one of 'em." 
 
 " No ; branded nothing at all ; they are private 
 property." 
 
 " Well, I don't see how you men can make it by daylight. 
 You might ride in your shirt sleeves, just like many of 
 the Yankees do in this hot weather ; but if you get any 
 ways near 'em your horses would give you away, even if 
 your breeches wouldn't." Mr. Quarles's voice was loud 
 and his manner positive. 
 
 " Can't help it. We must risk it, sir. Stuart is push- 
 ing north, and we must overtake him this night, or we 
 shall never do it." 
 
 " I think I could help you in the matter of the horses," 
 said the old man with less emphasis, certainly, but more 
 deliberation. " One of my neighbours has half a dozen 
 good U. S. horses, and I think he'd like to swap. Good 
 horses, too ; he bought 'em when they were thin, and he's 
 brought 'em out all right. He's afraid the Yankees may 
 give him trouble about 'em some day, and he'll be glad to 
 trade for cattle not branded."
 
 98 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " We must go on," said Morgan. 
 
 " Well, my friend, I'll tell you the straight truth. I'm 
 interested in those horses myself, and I don't mind telling 
 you that they never were broken down. They are good 
 animals. I got 'em by a slant, and I'm in constant fear 
 that they will be claimed by the government. They are 
 a long way better than the ones you are on, and if you 
 want a good trade now's your time." 
 
 " Where are they ? " the sergeant asked, with some 
 show of interest. 
 
 " Right on your road. You won't lose half an hour 
 you'll gain time, for they are fresh and will stand push- 
 ing. They are at the third place you'll pass on your left. 
 If you say so, I'll get there before you do." 
 
 " All right, Mr. Quarles ; come ahead ; we'll look into 
 it," and Morgan gave the word to mount. 
 
 " Dan," says Joe, " I'm a-thinkin' that old feller is in a 
 clost place and wants us to help him out. I reckon he 
 stole 'em. Anyhow, here goes for pullin' off my coat ; 
 I'll agree to that part of his doctrine." 
 
 The road was full of hoof prints, all pointing northward. 
 In this thickly populated country farm-houses were all 
 about, the smoke of preparing breakfast rising from many 
 chimneys hardly were they ever beyond sight of a chim- 
 ney. Yet there were stretches of woodland on the 
 streams, and many small groves and orchards. Their road 
 now turned almost due northeast. 
 
 " What do you think about the swap, George ? " 
 
 " Depends on what he offers," Sency replied. " I'm not 
 going to be cheated in order to get a U. S, horse. I don't
 
 DAHLGREN 99 
 
 want one quite that bad ; but I hope he is telling the 
 truth, for ours are none the better for want of rest. He 
 ought to be willing to do almost anything for the sake 
 of safety. Don't you believe that he is interested in 
 some of Mosby's people, or some other people like 
 Mosby's?" 
 
 " Yes, I've little doubt of it," replied Morgan. 
 
 " You know I was with Mosby on one of his raids over 
 here, and the men captured more horses than they knew 
 what to do with. What do you suppose they did with 
 'em?" 
 
 " They ought to have killed 'em," said Armstrong. 
 
 "Yes, but they didn't that is, all of 'em. Some of 
 the men sold 'em for a song to the farmers, and some of 
 'em just gave 'em away, or turned 'em loose, which 
 amounted to the same thing, for no doubt the farmers 
 got 'em." 
 
 " But if they're branded, our men ahead would be likely 
 to take 'em." 
 
 " Oh, Dan, he's got 'em well hid out ; he's so afraid of 
 the Yanks that I'm hopeful we'll get a good trade ; it 
 took my last word to convince him that I was not trying 
 to get the best of him he was afraid I was a detective 
 or something." 
 
 " Mahs Dan, you betteh go mighty slow a-swappin' feh 
 dem hosses you ain't nuvveh know noth'n' about. De good 
 book hit say w'en you mek a trade you mus' jedge right ; 
 dat Misteh Squalls he in a mighty big swivet about 
 swappin'." 
 
 " Yes, Squire, we'll not jump at the thing. When we
 
 100 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 get there, I want you to keep both eyes open look at all 
 of 'em every point." 
 
 " Yassah, I 'spec' he done shut 'era up in de daytime, 
 an' tuhn 'em loose in his pastuh at night ; an' den he ain't 
 fed 'em no cawn an' de las' one of 'em is got de scouahs 
 f'om eatin' noth'n' but green grass ; an' hit'll be a 
 Gawd's blessiu' ef dey ain't got de tendeh huf, too, feh de 
 good book hit say dat de hoss got to eat de hahd cawn ef 
 he gwine to stan' up to he bus'ness." 
 
 "You must look close, old man, and not let us be 
 cheated." 
 
 " If they swindle Squire, they'll have to get up before 
 day," says Armstrong. 
 
 " Yassah, dat de Gawd's troof ; but dat Misteh Squalls 
 he done tuck an' got up befo'e day dis mawnin' ; w'en I 
 come up to him, he dess a-smokin' his pipe dess lak it was 
 atteh breakfus', an' heah w r e is, ain't had not a mou'ful 
 
 yit." 
 
 The third place on the left was reached. A tall gate 
 was already open at the only entrance way through an 
 impenetrable hedge. Mr. Quarles had distanced them 
 had known how to take a short cut, he said. He led the 
 way up to a dwelling of some former comfort, but now 
 greatly in need of repairs. Behind the house, on a 
 steep slope, stood a large barn, to which building the 
 whole party descended. In the stalls were nine horses, 
 all of them evidently ex-Federal. Squire went the 
 rounds. 
 
 "Dis un got th'ee w'ite hufs dess es soon have a 
 cow," the old man muttered. He went out into the barn-
 
 DAHLGREN 101 
 
 yard and returned with a heavy stone and struck repeat- 
 edly the hoofs of the animals he liked. 
 
 " Yassah, Mahs Dan, Mistah Squalls he say he done fed 
 'em awn dry feed all de time an' some o' de cobs izh 
 heah yit, but you dunno how long dese crittehs can stan' 
 up undeh yo' weight an' Mahs Chahley's, noh Mahs Joe's 
 notheh ; cou'se any of 'em kin git along undeh ole Squiah 
 'caze I ain't noth'n' but a runt, nohow." 
 
 Quarles protested that the horses had had regular exer- 
 cise ; every night they had been turned into the pasture, 
 and occasionally one had been ridden. The trade was 
 struck, Mr. Quarles greatly rejoicing because he could 
 now sell unsuspected property. 
 
 Morgan's men, on fresh mounts, rode rapidly, Arm- 
 strong boisterously praising his new horse. Indeed, they 
 were all elated, except old Squire, who had felt his own 
 beast begin to stumble. Taking Quarles's advice they 
 pushed due north through Gaithersburg, cutting off the 
 great angle at Rockville, thus gaining miles on Stuart's 
 march, and at ten o'clock reached the road for Westmin- 
 ster. At the junction they paused : men were seen com- 
 ing from the north, five cavalrymen of yet unknown 
 colour. Morgan decided instantly that retreat was impos- 
 sible impudence alone was prudent ; he gave the word 
 to his men they must dash by the approaching squad. 
 Armstrong was with Sency in front, the sergeant was 
 with Joe at the rear ; but where was Squire ? Morgan 
 had just observed that the old man was missing; but there 
 was no time to lose the meeting would be in a moment, 
 for the squad came at a gallop ; the four rushed forward.
 
 102 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Between his teeth Morgan called, " Salute them ! *' 
 
 In double velocity the two groups passed each other at 
 such a storm that the Confederates were uncertain as to 
 the character of those whom they had met, for they, also, 
 were in their shirt sleeves ; but Morgan looked back, and 
 saw the men coming to a halt and turning in their saddles 
 and gesticulating. 
 
 " Look out ahead ! " roared Armstrong, and Morgan's 
 face came with a jerk to the right about, and he saw, com- 
 ing, a troop of horse, which he knew to be the main body 
 for which the squad was but the advance guard; the 
 speed had slackened. 
 
 " What are they, George ? " cried the sergeant. 
 
 "Yankees, undoubtedly so were the others." 
 
 Morgan again turned ; the squad were pursuing their 
 way; no doubt they had decided that the main body 
 would speedily settle the question. 
 
 The sergeant debated rapidly : would the commander 
 of this troop consider them orthodox simply because his 
 advance guard had allowed them to run into greater peril ? 
 Not much time did Morgan have ; the Federals were 
 within forty rods, coming at a trot. 
 
 " To the right, Charley ! " he exclaimed. He could not 
 expect this large body to give him half the road ; even if 
 unquestioned at the moment of meeting the head of the 
 column, his speed must be diminished for lack of ground, 
 and the colour of the trousers would be known easily. 
 
 A narrow lane was leading up to a farm-house some three 
 hundred yards from the highway. Sency and Armstrong 
 turned up the lane in a trot, Morgan and Joe following.
 
 DAHLGREN 103 
 
 " Walk ! " ordered the sergeant. He hoped that the 
 Federals would pass without attempting to examine them ; 
 then he would wait for Squire. 
 
 At their left, by turning a little, they could see the head 
 of the cavalry column not more than a hundred and fifty 
 yards away and getting nearer, for the speed of the Fed- 
 erals was the greater. 
 
 Morgan ordered Armstrong and Sency to keep their 
 faces to the front and ride on ; he ordered Joe to ride on ; 
 he brought his own horse to a slow walk, and let his com- 
 rades distance him. He threw his right leg over his saddle 
 and bent over, seeming to seek timely comfort. 
 
 An instant more and " Halt ! halt ! " came from his 
 rear. 
 
 Morgan halted ; the three others were riding on some 
 sixty yards away. 
 
 Morgan turned his horse to face the challengers . . . 
 his party were riding on ... three Federals were riding 
 up the lane . . . their speed lessened . . . the troop in 
 their rear was passing the mouth of the lane . . . the 
 foremost Federal turned and waved his hand ... his 
 two followers went to the right about and followed after 
 the troop. 
 
 Morgan made sure that his right-hand pistol was easy 
 in its holster ; he could see that the man approaching 
 was an officer ; better to ride forward and meet him 
 now he could see his shoulder-straps. " Good morning, 
 Captain," he shouted, almost guessing at his rank ; then, 
 before any response had been made, " Can you tell me 
 where I can find the general ? "
 
 104 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The Federal halted. Morgan saw that he was very 
 young younger than himself ; yet as he sat his horse 
 he looked all of a man a stern soldier, and a hardy, 
 though handsome and of refined features. Not two rods 
 separated the horsemen one trembling inwardly with 
 suspense, the other's face unmoved at first as he raised 
 his right hand and held it before him to shield his eyes 
 while he looked up the hill on Morgan, for the sun was 
 directly in his front ; yet the palm of his hand was out- 
 ward ; even at the expense of awkwardness the owner's 
 dignity must not be permitted to suffer by discourtesy 
 to another. 
 
 All at once the Confederate saw that his antagonist's 
 countenance had changed : indifference had yielded to an 
 expression of bewilderment or other feeling which the 
 sergeant knew not accurately to construe ; for up to this 
 point he had but attempted to play the part of any 
 Federal not the part of one only Federal. Morgan, 
 also, had raised his hand, to return what he had momen- 
 tarily conceived a salute, but his hand had dropped quickly 
 to his side, while the other's hand remained in the air. 
 
 Perhaps not three seconds had passed, the officer silent 
 and preserving his attitude, when, moved by some inex- 
 plicable cause such as affects one at peculiar times through 
 a sense of the ludicrous, Morgan smiled. 
 
 " Aha ! " cried the Federal, instantly, and lowering his 
 hand, " is it you, really ? " 
 
 " Really and truly, Captain," answered Morgan, with as 
 much coolness as his amazement would allow, his smile gone, 
 serious, alert, dreading this man of mysterious approach.
 
 DAHLGREN 105 
 
 " Well, I'll swear," said the officer, coming nearer ; 
 " who would have expected to find you here ? We heard 
 you had been killed, or at least so badly wounded that 
 you couldn't move. I believe I remember that you asked 
 me about the general, and in my perplexity I failed to 
 answer. Pleasonton is up above near Frederick, some- 
 where. How in the name of sense do they spread such 
 reports ? " 
 
 " And where is Stuart with his gang ? " exclaimed 
 Morgan, his first wonder supplanted by a greater, yet 
 ready now to play the part forced upon him. 
 
 " Gone north toward Hanover. How did you get 
 here ? I'll swear I didn't know you till you smiled ; 
 you've changed. Why, man, don't you know that your 
 conduct is disgraceful in the extreme ? You were given 
 up for gone dead, wounded, missing, a triple casualty, 
 and yet here you are, just the same as ever, except that 
 you don't seem quite strong yet. For mercy's sake, give 
 me your recipe." 
 
 "Well, Captain, my horse was killed, but strange to 
 say I wasn't. But I was cut off and had to stay on the 
 south side. I picked up a darky who helped me ; he's 
 with me still, lingering behind somewhere. I'll be 
 obliged if you'll hurry him up when you meet him. 
 Can't you come up to the house yonder and help me get 
 breakfast, Captain ? " 
 
 "No, Morgan, I must ride on. I'm on urgent business; 
 the general has given me twenty men, and I'm after big 
 game. To tell you the truth," and now the officer's voice 
 was low, " we've learned that a messenger from Jeff
 
 106 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Davis is trying to make his way through to Lee, and I'm 
 going to catch him if the thing can be done." 
 
 " But you don't expect to find him as low as this, 
 surely ? " exclaimed the Confederate. 
 
 " We are taking care of every ford. I'm now on my 
 way up higher," said the officer, whose frank eye had not 
 once left the rebel's face. 
 
 " And where is the army ? " asked Morgan. 
 
 " I bet a pretty penny that you don't know a word of 
 the big news," the captain exclaimed. 
 
 "No tell me quick." 
 
 " You wouldn't guess in a week." 
 
 " Don't keep me in suspense, Captain." 
 
 " Well, then, here goes : one, two, and Meade is in 
 command." 
 
 " Command of you don't mean it ! " 
 
 " On honour. George Gordon Meade, Major-General 
 commanding the Army of the Potomac ! That's been 
 Lord George's style for the last twenty-four hours." 
 
 "By Jove !" 
 
 " No ... By George ! And once more . . . shut your 
 eyes now ; the thing's personal to you ! Ready ? " 
 
 Morgan nodded. 
 
 " It gives me heart-felt pleasure to tell you that you 
 have been promoted to a first lieutenancy, Morgan ; and 
 that, too, for a reason that all your friends will rejoice to 
 hear and to speak of gallantry on the field of battle." 
 
 Morgan gave no reply to this speech ; perhaps it was as 
 well, for the look that dashed over his features as he 
 thought proudly of the distinction to his family might
 
 DAHLGREN 107 
 
 easily be attributed to proper confusion on his own 
 account. 
 
 " Truth, I tell you, and Pleasonton has had your name 
 read out in orders." 
 
 " Indeed that is news, Captain, and you make me very 
 proud. What does it all mean ? and what do they all 
 say about Meade ? " 
 
 " Well, they say everything. But I think that the 
 average opinion is good-natured at the bottom. Of 
 course everybody thinks it risky to * change horses in the 
 middle of the stream,' as your Uncle Abe puts it ; but the 
 thing's done, and Hooker's gone, and Dahlgren is out of 
 a job . . . perhaps! I'm on this messenger business, and 
 when I get back there's no telling what Meade will do 
 with me. Two to one he's already got four men spotted 
 for my place. Say, Morgan, do you know whether 
 Rowser's Ford is held by us yet ? Really, that's just what 
 I halted you to inquire about." 
 
 " Was this morning about two o'clock. I crossed 
 there." 
 
 "Know who's there?" 
 
 " Captain Freeman is the officer's name, I think. You 
 going there ? " 
 
 " No, I'm going higher. Was Freeman to come on ? " 
 
 " Yes," was the reply at a venture. 
 
 " None of our men south of the river ? " 
 
 " None nearer than Fairfax. I had trouble in getting 
 through, as you may well suppose." 
 
 " I see you have on gray trousers." 
 
 " Yes ; put 'em on before I got to the river ; and now
 
 108 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 they're all I've got. Will I have trouble above here, 
 Captain ? " 
 
 "Well, you may, but I think not. Stuart has gone 
 north, it's true, but all you have to do to avoid him is to 
 take the first road to your left ; it's not more than half a 
 mile but you'd better look out." The captain's voice 
 was growing louder at each word, for he had turned bridle, 
 and was moving away. " Give the general my regards, 
 and Cohen," and Captain Ulric Dahlgren, formerly 
 General Hooker's aide, galloped back down the lane, 
 leaving Morgan to follow after his comrades in peace, but 
 in a torment of curiosity to know more of this Captain 
 Dahlgren, who seemed so familiar with Andrew ; and then 
 the sergeant chuckled at the thought of the scene when 
 Freeman and Dahlgren should compare notes.
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 
 
 " And what's impossible can't be, 
 And never, never comes to pass." 
 
 COLMAN. 
 
 WHEN, as already related, Morgan's men, at ten o'clock, 
 reached the road for Westminster, and saw the six cavalry- 
 men who afterward proved to be the advance guard of 
 Dahlgren's troop, old Squire was not more than a furlong 
 behind. He heard the galloping horses, as his friends 
 rushed away, and, a few minutes later, the rapid approach 
 of the squad of Federals, but a swell of the ground hid 
 them as they passed southeast athwart the joining of the 
 two roads. 
 
 Squire's horse was in a bad way ; the rider knew that 
 he could ride but little farther, for he had exhausted the 
 influence of kicks and blows, and progress was becoming 
 slower at every yard. In momentary despair he ceased 
 to urge, and the beast began to nibble at the tall bushes 
 in a fence corner by the roadside, but soon ceased even 
 this exertion, and stood stock still. The negro dis- 
 mounted and was examining the horse's hoofs when a 
 second and louder noise arrested his attention the 
 sound of Dahlgren's main body, coming at a trot, scab- 
 bards rattling, a hundred horseshoes striking the flinty 
 
 109
 
 110 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 earth, the noise of laugh and speech from many men ; 
 and Squire, unable to know whether they were friends 
 or the enemies of his friends, cowered in the bushes 
 lest he be seen. 
 
 When the troop had passed at right angles to his 
 course, the negro again tried to help his horse, and soon 
 took a pebble from one of the hoofs, giving but the 
 smallest temporary relief, however, the case requiring 
 rest and food more than superficial treatment ; yet he 
 was encouraged to remount, and by dint of loud speech 
 and violent bodily exercise succeeded in reaching the 
 junction of the two roads, where, looking north, he saw 
 a single horseman coming at a great gallop. 
 
 Captain Ulric Dahlgren, only twenty-one years of age, 
 was already distinguished for audacious ingenuity in war. 
 The son of Admiral Dahlgren, his social and military 
 prospects were great ; and his own worth was unques- 
 tioned. His first service had been to assist the ordnance 
 department in the important duty of disposing the bat- 
 teries at Harper's Ferry ; this engineering work accom- 
 plished, Dahlgren went to the field and served as aide to 
 General Sigel in the Valley campaign against Stonewall 
 Jackson. On November 9, 1862, three days after General 
 Burnside had taken command of the army, Dahlgren rode 
 through the streets of Fredericksburg at the head of 
 Sigel's body-guard, seized prisoners, captured supplies, 
 and gained the knowledge that prompt action would 
 put the heights beyond Fredericksburg in the power of 
 the Union army, and that army on the right flank of 
 Lee's. Dahlgren was at once appointed to a position
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 111 
 
 on the general staff ; the army moved promptly, and it 
 was through no fault of Burnside that dilatoriness spoiled 
 his campaign. He reached the Falmouth hills before Lee's 
 advance had occupied the opposite range the army had 
 marched well, but only to find that it was forced to a 
 protracted halt because the necessary bridge material had 
 not been provided by the authorities in Washington. 
 
 After Burnside, Dahlgren had served Hooker, and 
 now, although in Morgan's presence he had modestly 
 disclaimed the high esteem in which he was held by 
 the future conqueror of Gettysburg, was beginning ser- 
 vice under Meade, who had already designated him as 
 a member of the general household. 
 
 When Dahlgren rode back out of the lane into which 
 he had followed Morgan, his men were no longer visible, 
 and he put spurs to his horse. At the top of the next hill 
 the captain saw a negro man, mounted, coming at a slow 
 walk, and, a little nearer, could see that the negro was 
 old and small, with none of the marks of a combatant. 
 Indeed, there were as yet no negro troops in the Army 
 of the Potomac, and but for the fact that this negro was 
 on a trooper's saddle, Dahlgren would have had no diffi- 
 culty in attributing to him all the qualities that disfigure 
 and adorn peaceful rusticity and bondage. 
 
 The captain halted ; so did Squire, with profound obei- 
 sance. 
 
 " Whose horse is that you're on, old man ? " 
 
 " Dis hoss, Mahsta ? Dis boss he b'longs to de sojehs 
 w'at done went awn ahaid ; he don't b'long to me, sah, 
 dat he don't. Ef he b'long to me I'd git shet of 'im, sah,
 
 112 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 'caze de good book hit say dat de boss rush into de battle ; 
 but dis un he ain't wuff de salt dat he git ev'y Sunday. 
 I done got so fuh behime dat I's afeahed I ain't nuvveh 
 gwine to ketch up. Did ju meet 'em, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " I met Lieutenant Morgan and two or three men. Do 
 you belong with them ? " 
 
 " Mahs Dan Mawgin ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " Yassah, but I ain't nuweh knowed dat he was lieu- 
 tenant, Mahsta." 
 
 "No, he didn't know until I told him. Are you the 
 man who helped him out over yonder ? " 
 
 "I dunno, Mahsta, dat I he'ped him out much wuff 
 talkin' about, but I be'n stickin' to 'im long es I could, 
 sah, feh de good book hit say be ye faithful to de eend, 
 an' I 'spec' I mos' done got to de eend now, sah, 'caze de 
 good book hit say de fust gwine to be de las', an' I knows 
 I done be'n de fust a-leadin' de way in dat fohd, an' now 
 I's de las' feh true. How fuh is dey done got ahaid, 
 Mahsta?" 
 
 Dahlgren was moving on. " Half a mile by this time. 
 Morgan told me to hurry you up," he shouted, turning. 
 
 " Yassah," Squire replied, greatly rejoicing that the act 
 seemed about to end so well ; but in a moment the Federal 
 halted, as though a new thought had come. 
 
 " You crossed at Bowser's, didn't you ? " 
 
 "Yassah," Squire shouted in reply, then, feeling a 
 necessity for providing a way to evade, "leastways hit 
 wus down dah some'h's, Mahsta dat's w'at dey called 
 it."
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 113 
 
 "Deep?" 
 
 " Yassah, hit mos' swum de bosses." 
 
 The captain used his spurs and soon overtook his com- 
 mand. His thought was peculiarly tinged ; ever since 
 he had met Morgan he had suffered a sensation which he 
 dimly felt was uncanny. He had been in some degree 
 familiar with Junior (as Andrew was called), whom he 
 had known as a daring courier serving Pleasonton imme- 
 diately, and with whom he had been slightly associated in 
 more than one small exploit. The news that Morgan had 
 been mortally wounded had given Dahlgren pain, and the 
 surprising discovery that the courier was well and strong 
 had made him rejoice, yet there was mingled with the sur- 
 prise and joy an indefinite feeling of discomfort which he 
 could not analyze. " Wonder if I'm getting superstitious 
 in my old age," he thought. " That fellow Junior Morgan 
 makes me feel as though I'd met a ghost in broad daylight. 
 I almost wish I hadn't seen him. Who was it that started 
 that report about his being a dead man ? He had heard 
 of it, himself at least he showed no surprise when I gave 
 him credit for his resurrection. I'm going to make him 
 tell me all about it when I get through with this mes- 
 senger business. Ah ! Yonder they are ; wonder why 
 they've halted." 
 
 Before him, at no great distance, was a larger body of 
 troops than his own, all seemingly at a stand in the road ; 
 but in a moment there was a stir, and now Dahlgren saw 
 faces as well as backs, and knew that his troop was meet- 
 ing and passing some other command. 
 
 "Good morning, Dahlgren," cried an officer at the
 
 114 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 head of the approaching column, and then halted while 
 his company rode on north. 
 
 "Freeman? The very man I wanted to see," and 
 Dahlgren reined up. 
 
 " Halt ! " came Freeman's order to his company. 
 
 " Road clear to Rowser's, Captain ? " asked Dahlgren. 
 
 " Suppose so; camped there last night and came through 
 this morning. Guess all of Stuart's are out of the way by 
 this time," replied Freeman, and then added with a loud 
 laugh, "but I don't know where Mosby is." 
 
 " You got there last night, did you, Freeman ? " 
 
 " Yes ; been over in Loudoun on a special job ; the 
 general sent a runner to warn us. Thought we were go- 
 ing to have trouble, but found that Stuart had got out of 
 our way long before we knew he'd been in it," and Free- 
 man's tones and movements of the head were not compli- 
 mentary to the Federal generalship. 
 
 " How far do you call it from Rowser's to Edwards 
 Ferry?" 
 
 " Just about ten miles ; you mean by this side, of 
 course ? " 
 
 " Yes ; what I want to know is whether there is any 
 crossing place between Rowser's and Edwards." 
 
 " For troops, you mean ? " asked Freeman, showing 
 great interest. 
 
 " No, for anybody ; I'm to look out for a man with a 
 small escort." 
 
 " Ah ! Well, people cross at many places ; but there's 
 no good ford for public use between the two, so far as I 
 know. What's up, Dahlgren ? "
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 115 
 
 "A messenger from Davis to Lee." 
 
 " Like hunting a needle in a haystack," exclaimed 
 Freeman. 
 
 " Well, the hunt is good exercise. You know the news 
 about Meade ? " 
 
 " Yes, and between you and me I'm glad of it," 
 replied Freeman. " Meade's a gentleman and a scholar, 
 as well as a man and a general. Any news of Lee ? " 
 
 "Not a word that means anything definite. Ewell has 
 been at Carlisle and seems now to be making for Harris- 
 burg, but what Hill and Longstreet are doing nobody 
 knows. Meade is marching, but not rapidly waiting 
 for developments. I'm to report back wherever I find 
 him God knows where." 
 
 " You learned nothing of Stuart ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, he's somewhere up the road about Han- 
 over by this time. At what hour did you leave Rowser's, 
 Freeman ? " 
 
 " We staid there till eight this morning. It was thought 
 that more of Stuart's people might be coming on and 
 in fact I guess a few of them did get through last night. 
 We had quite a scurry for a little while. We're bound 
 for Frederick ; which road did you come ? " 
 
 " Down by New Market." 
 
 " Wonder you didn't strike against the rebels that got 
 by me at Rowser's last night," said Freeman, in a tone 
 that indicated soliloquy rather than inquiry. 
 
 " How many were they ? " 
 
 " Don't know not more than twenty or thirty, I
 
 116 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 guess. It was so dark you couldn't see and then they 
 forded down below not at Rowser's exactly." 
 
 " Possibly they were the very party I'm after, Free- 
 man. What time was it when they got through ? " 
 
 " Little before day." 
 
 " They must have been close on Morgan's heels." 
 
 "What Morgan?" 
 
 " Dan, or Junior, as they call him. Pleasonton's 
 courier, or aide, I suppose we should call him now. He's 
 promoted for gallantry at Aldie and elsewhere. The 
 same man that passed you at Rowser's this morning ; a 
 downright good fellow all over." 
 
 "Dahlgren, to save me from sin, I can't understand 
 what you're talking about," exclaimed Freeman, with 
 great earnestness. 
 
 Dahlgren had dismounted ; at this moment his left foot 
 was in his stirrup he must ride on. 
 
 " Why, don't you know Morgan ? He was reported 
 mortally wounded at Aldie last week and probably a 
 prisoner." 
 
 " Yes, I know Morgan ; that is, I don't know him per- 
 sonally, but I do by reputation ; and what I don't know 
 most is why you should say that the squad of rebels that 
 crossed at Rowser's Ford last night were close on his 
 heels, and that he crossed there also." 
 
 " Only this and nothing more : I met Morgan up 
 yonder about ten o'clock, and he told me that he crossed 
 there before you had left," and Dahlgren mounted. 
 
 " Hold on ! " shouted Freeman. At the next instant 
 he saw difficulties ; it would be a matter of delicacy to
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING . 117 
 
 tell Dahlgren a man positive, peremptory that he 
 was duped by his own error ; yet something must be 
 said, and Freeman recovered sufficiently to decide on 
 adroitness. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" asked Dahlgren. 
 
 "Are you sure that you know Morgan?" 
 
 " Dead sure, and I thought you did too, for he told me 
 that you were holding the ford," and General Meade's 
 aide smiled to see the look of utter bewilderment that 
 spread over Freeman's whole face, from which all shadow 
 of adroitness had gone. 
 
 " Brock ! O Brock ! Come here at once ! " shouted 
 Captain Freeman ; then, in a lower voice, he said : " I'm 
 going to prove to you that Morgan is not north of the 
 Potomac, Captain. No, sir ; nobody has passed Rowser's 
 Ford except the squad of rebels and they crossed below 
 and a man or two with passes who came over since 
 daylight." 
 
 Dahlgren made no comment, except that which was 
 indicated by the change that converted his smile of assur- 
 ance into one of incredulity. 
 
 " Lieutenant," said Freeman, as Brock hastened up, " I 
 want to present you to Captain Dahlgren, of the general 
 staff "... the customary salutes, and words, and hand- 
 shaking ..." and to ask you whether you know Lieu- 
 tenant Daniel Morgan of General Pleasonton's staff?" 
 
 " Seriously, Captain ? " inquired Brock, with a dash of 
 suspicion in his voice. 
 
 " Yes, seriously ; a question has come up," replied 
 Freeman, his voice tremulous.
 
 118 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Certainly, I know him ; at least in a sense ; I've seen 
 him," said Brock. 
 
 " Do you know where he is now ? " asked Freeman, 
 assertively. 
 
 " Well," says Brock, " I can't swear it exactly, but I can 
 come pretty near it. We left him yesterday at noon 
 between Middleburg and Aldie, and I guess he's there 
 yet." 
 
 "Of course, he was there no doubt about that," 
 Dahlgren broke in. 
 
 " But wait I What was his condition ? " asked Free- 
 man. 
 
 " Well, I don't want to prophesy," said Brock, with an 
 ominous shake of his head ; "but if he was not at the very 
 gate of death, then I never saw a living man in danger 
 before." 
 
 "Yet I saw him hardly an hour ago, up yonder," 
 exclaimed Dahlgren, somewhat huskily, pointing north- 
 ward. 
 
 " Some other man, Captain," said Brock, who had not 
 yet stopped his shaking of the head, and increasing that 
 sign into one of vehement negation. 
 
 " Tell me what he looks like, Lieutenant." 
 
 Brock shook his head some more, saying : " Looked like 
 a dead man, Captain. Face white as a sheet." 
 
 "Yesterday?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " But don't I tell you that I talked with him for fifteen 
 minutes ? He told me himself that he had been given up 
 for lost or dead."
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 119 
 
 " Impossible, Dahlgren, clearly impossible ; we were 
 sent specially to get Morgan my whole company and 
 Dr. Lacy you know Lacy ? he was sent with us with 
 all sorts of surgical things an ambulance a patent 
 mattress, and God knows what else and we got Morgan, 
 I tell you, got him out of a house down there why, man, 
 he couldn't talk he was perfectly speechless partly 
 paralyzed, Lacy said and when we got orders to ride, we 
 had to leave the man, and Lacy stuck by him and is 
 with him yet. You're dead wrong, " and Freeman's face 
 had a desperate look upon it as though he would have 
 chosen the proof of his own version rather than Morgan's 
 safety and Dahlgren's triumph. 
 
 " You got the wrong man," said Dahlgren, coldly ; 
 then, without waiting for any response, he said : " You see, 
 I know Dan Morgan ; I've been with him more than once ; 
 and I not only talked with him this morning, but I met the 
 negro to whom he owes his safety. He told me about the 
 negro, and then I met the old darky, following with a 
 lame horse ; he asked me how far Morgan was ahead. 
 You gentlemen have picked up the wrong man by mistake. 
 Who told you that your man was Junior Morgan ? " 
 
 Brock and Freeman looked into each other's eyes. 
 Could it be that Dahlgren was right, after all? That 
 old darky again! 
 
 " We were notified that Morgan was lying desperately 
 wounded at the house of a citizen named Armstrong. The 
 people sent us a messenger an old negro to tell us that 
 we might come and get Morgan and, by the Lord ! I 
 guess you're right, Dahlgren."
 
 120 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " What is it now ? " asked Dahlgren. 
 
 "Why, that same negro turned up at Rowser's last 
 night, and caused a rumpus that I've never been able to 
 see into." 
 
 The superior smile on Dahlgren's face did not tend to 
 assist Freeman's confession. Not every man bold enough 
 to face battle without nervousness is sufficiently coura- 
 geous to admit that some one has made a fool of him ; but 
 Freeman was both bold and brave. "I guess you're 
 right, Dahlgren ; we must have been worked, but for 
 what purpose I'm at a loss to know. What sort of a 
 negro was that you say you met ? " 
 
 "Why, a most respectable old fellow; must have been 
 about sixty; small, and tough-looking." 
 
 " Gray-headed ? " 
 
 "Yes," says Dahlgren. 
 
 " Tell you his name ? " 
 
 "No," says Dahlgren. 
 
 " Nothing peculiar about him ? " 
 
 " I took him for a well-raised old darky one of your 
 privileged patriarchs that they call * Uncle.' He said 
 ' Mahsta ' rather frequently, and showed a fondness for 
 Scripture." 
 
 " God ! " said Brock, and then roared with laughter, in 
 which, spite of himself, Dahlgren soon joined more moder- 
 ately. 
 
 Yet Freeman's consternation was but momentary. " I 
 don't see what there is so funny in this mixture," he 
 exclaimed ; " here you go to show that the same old nig- 
 ger that handed Morgan over to us tells you that he is
 
 A CASE OF KNOWING 121 
 
 attached to Morgan. And you saw Morgan. In one 
 case the nigger delivers to us a dying man named Morgan, 
 and in the other he follows a man whom you know to be 
 Lieutenant Morgan uninjured. How do you account for 
 the negro's conduct ? Has he told two lies ? If he 
 told the truth once, which time was it ? To you or to us ? 
 You are convinced that you talked to Morgan. If that 
 negro lied to us, and palmed off on us another man for a 
 purpose he's too deep for me ! What motive could he 
 have ? Even from your standpoint, what motive could he 
 have ? He helped Morgan to escape, according to your 
 theory ; how does handing over the wrong man to us 
 help Morgan to escape ? If he could hand any man over 
 to us, why didn't he hand Morgan over to us ? If he is 
 really attached to Morgan, why should he wish to cheat 
 Morgan's friends ? And it looks as if Morgan himself 
 had something to do with the thing. You say he passed 
 me, and I say I know nothing about it. Damned if I can 
 see daylight in the rotten mess anywhere." 
 
 "Well, gentlemen, I am compelled to bid you good 
 morning," said Dahlgren. " I wish I could relieve this 
 doubly dark mystery ; but I must be riding. Tell you 
 what I wish you'd do for me, Freeman," he added, smil- 
 ing ; " drop me a line if you are ever able to make heads 
 and tails of this thing." 
 
 " I'll do it. And you do the same thing by me. 
 There's something wrong about that old darky as sure as 
 shooting." 
 
 " What's his name ? " asked Dahlgren, still smiling. 
 
 " Squire," said Freeman and Brock.
 
 SOLUTION 
 
 " Beckeners without their host must recken twice. 1 ' 
 
 HBTWOOD. 
 
 Miss WEST had consented with concealed reluctance to 
 her installation as Dr. Lacy's assistant, and was devoting 
 to her merciful work all time not exacted by pressing 
 household affairs, which, indeed, suffered in her own fears 
 as she thought of Usher's probable dissatisfaction when he 
 should return to diminished comfort. Engrossed as he 
 was, for the most part undoubtedly with his duty to his 
 patient, but secondarily, it must be admitted, with his 
 delicious perplexity concerning Usher, the worthy surgeon 
 was utterly impervious to any effect from the girl's con- 
 dition of enforced service, and accepted her aid without a 
 qualm, and even without the consciousness that he was 
 enjoying a lack of the irritableness that usually afflicted 
 his temper when in the presence of a woman. 
 
 That the condition of his patient had become no worse 
 was a source of great gratification, and Lacy felt no doubt 
 of his own ability to bring the delicate case to a successful 
 issue; for he furnished no exception to the rule respecting 
 the union of genius and egotism and he had sense 
 
 122
 
 SOLUTION 123 
 
 enough to know it ; indeed, his self -pride was so conscious 
 that he reasoned upon his own powers as justly as upon 
 another's, and felt additional pride at the accurate con- 
 clusion which, in such comparisons, he invariably reached, 
 that he had the right to be proud. 
 
 And Morgan, even in his condition of utterly passive 
 consciousness, felt the benefit of an atmosphere of safety 
 the aura, so to speak, of a strong character with intellect 
 enough to throw eccentricity into invisible background : 
 men are to be judged as statesmen, as surgeons, as what 
 they profess to be, according to their purposes and achieve- 
 ments, and their foibles lessen not, but rather illustrate 
 their essential quality. The wounded soldier instinctively 
 knew that here was the man in whose hands his case was 
 safe, and saw as yet no flaw. 
 
 " Miss West," said the surgeon, " to-night I shall take 
 first watch." 
 
 Jennie would have preferred a different order of things, 
 as Usher was to be looked for before midnight, and she 
 could not readily sleep while expecting him ; but she had 
 had first watch on the preceding night, and she submitted 
 without protest. Turn about is fair play. 
 
 " Tap on my door, Doctor, when my time comes," she 
 said, not entirely void of hypocrisy perhaps, since she was 
 almost sure she would not need to be waked. Morgan 
 was already sleeping and Lacy was sitting near the west 
 window where he had drawn a small table on which he 
 had laid a paper ruled into parallel columns. He held a 
 pencil in his hand ; she was standing over him. 
 
 He nodded vaguely, whether for assent or concerning
 
 124 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 some idea in regard to the marks which he was beginning 
 to make upon the paper, she could not tell, for he seemed 
 preoccupied. She went out. 
 
 Lacy wrote -f over his first column, and the sign for 
 minus over the second, in his own mind the symbols 
 for argument pro and con. Then he set himself to think- 
 ing profoundly, so deeply that he had no knowledge of the 
 lapse of time, no perception that the light in the west was 
 dying, and that the lines on his paper could no longer 
 be seen. 
 
 At length he nodded emphatically, and made a move- 
 ment to write ; then he rose and went to a shelf and 
 brought his candle, and placed it on the table, and lighted 
 it, his body carefully intervening between the flame and 
 Morgan's face. He sat again, and took up his pencil, but 
 had lost his idea. 
 
 " What was it ? Let me see now ! . . . Oh, yes, I've 
 got it again," and he proceeded to write down the word 
 Deserter at the head of his paper. Then he began to 
 tabulate his reasons for and against a certain idea ; that is 
 to say, in the first column and its opposite he wrote down 
 why and why not Usher West should be considered a 
 deserter from the Confederate army. Hours went by and 
 the sagacious doctor intently held to his self-appointed 
 task. 
 
 There was bright moonlight, and Jennie's one candle 
 shone upon the by-road beneath her window. She did not 
 sleep. Knowing that she could not, she worked at her 
 sewing, but frequently she went to her window, which 
 looked north over the rear of the farm, in the desire to
 
 SOLUTION 125 
 
 know the first coming of Usher, whom she would warn that 
 the surgeon was not sleeping. On this night her thought 
 was full : of Charley Armstrong, gone to the war, and of 
 her father and Usher ; but more persistently than these 
 came the thought of the Federal soldier lying almost dead 
 in less than forty feet of her chair. It was very natural 
 to think of him, and she gave no self-reflection in her 
 thought. Thrown upon her care in a measure, he had 
 become for the time one of her household ; yet not once 
 did she wonder at the far greater prominence that the 
 wounded soldier occupied in her mind over the doctor, 
 he, too, in some sense almost equally dependent. 
 
 It was getting near twelve ; she did not wish Dr. 
 Lacy to see light through her door and infer that she 
 had kept awake, so she put out her candle and sat by 
 the window, looking north over the farm, and then her 
 thought took wider scope. Northward it went into Mary- 
 land and beyond, where she knew mighty armies were 
 on the verge of bloody battle, each contending for a 
 great principle. She was no logician, and her home ties 
 were strong ; yet grave doubt was in her mind concerning 
 the ultimate issue of the struggle, and even concerning the 
 justice of this war in which all her manly young friends 
 had taken part, and she heartily wished it to cease. She had 
 seenmourning in families roundabout dead brought home 
 and knew of more dead that could not be brought, but 
 had been covered with a crust of earth in long rows wherein 
 recognition of individuals was forever lost ; and here in 
 her own house was now this soldier from the enemy's 
 ranks ; perhaps he, too, would die, this man with the
 
 128 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 pathetic eyes which seemed to look beseechingly upon her 
 even here in the dark. 
 
 A sharp click noted five minutes till midnight ; hardly 
 had the sound ended ; it seemed to merge into another 
 click, but which she knew came from far the ring of 
 metal upon stone. She rose at once and went to the back 
 door ; there she listened intently, and heard again the 
 sound, clearer and repeated. She went out that she 
 might meet her brother before he came into the house. 
 The clock struck twelve, but she did not hear it. 
 
 Dr. Lacy had pursued his lines of reasoning, and had 
 reached the conclusion that Usher West's reluctance to 
 speak openly could be accounted for upon the theory of 
 his being a deserter, and upon no other ; therefore, Usher 
 West was a deserter ; and the good doctor, while it must 
 be confessed that the young man suffered loss of dignity 
 by the involuntary transformation, chuckled over the re- 
 sult of his solution, feeling assured that his own wish to 
 avoid armed Confederates was no stronger than that of 
 the Wests. 
 
 Even the stroke of twelve had not roused the doctor 
 from his revery consequent upon gratulation that his 
 logic had found result at once accurate and wholesome. 
 He still sat before his table, the light placed directly 
 between his face and the small open window which looked 
 west upon the walk leading round the house. At this 
 moment Jennie had reached the position where she would 
 wait for Usher, a hundred feet directly in rear of the back 
 entrance to the dwelling. 
 
 The sound of a horse's hoofs continued to come, and
 
 SOLUTION 127 
 
 soon the young girl could see a dark spot in the moon- 
 light, enlarging ; and then she was almost overcome with 
 terror as she thought that it must now be past the time 
 for her to relieve Dr. Lacy. She had forgotten to lock 
 her door, yet had pulled it almost shut, and suspense 
 became acute in wondering what the surgeon would do. 
 He would tap at her door ; there could be no response ; 
 then he would tap harder. For a moment she was divided 
 in mind ; ought she not to return at once ? But the 
 horseman was already near, and she felt that whatever 
 mistake had been made could not now be corrected. She 
 waited for Usher ; Lacy must not be allowed to hear her 
 brother and suspect the truth concerning the nature of his 
 service. 
 
 The horseman kept coming coming, but only for a 
 few yards more. The girl was amazed to see him turn and 
 ride south on the walk that led by Lacy's window. What 
 could it mean ? Had Usher forgotten that enemies were 
 in the house? No, that could not explain, even if he 
 had forgotten, he would put his horse in the stable no 
 need to ride round the house, yet, after all, perhaps he 
 had thought best to look everywhere about him before 
 coming in. 
 
 The horseman had disappeared, the northwest corner 
 of the dwelling shutting him out of her vision, and the 
 sounds of the hoofs had ceased, making her believe that 
 Usher had halted on seeing the light of Lacy's candle. 
 And at the next moment she heard a voice that she knew 
 was neither the doctor's nor her brother's, and turned to 
 flee into the house ; but stood still yet, for she now heard
 
 128 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 the rapid gallop of another horse, coming upon the north 
 road. 
 
 Lacy had been suddenly confronted by a bearded face 
 peering at him through the window. 
 
 " Say, old man," said a rude voice, but in friendly 
 tones, " time's come for you to git. Been sent to warn 
 
 you." 
 
 The candle was exactly between the two faces ; neither 
 man could clearly see the other. The visitor was leaning 
 on the window-sill, and Lacy could make out a bridle 
 stretching from one hand. 
 
 The doctor doubted that he had heard aright ; he had 
 feared a flaw in his reasoning, and, distrusting his former 
 conclusion, had been plunged deeply into new thought. 
 
 The man repeated : " Jig's up. Git ready. What's the 
 matter, Ush, that you can't speak ? Wake up, and be dam 
 quick about it." 
 
 Lacy heard distinctly ; he had recovered from both 
 abstraction and surprise ; he knew that the man, accus- 
 tomed to darkness, and now with his eyes suffering from 
 the sudden glare of the candle so near them, thought he 
 was speaking to Usher ; this room, devoted to mercy, was 
 ordinarily occupied by Usher ; the man knew this, and 
 had come to Usher's window to warn him that he was not 
 safe a conclusion almost correct, and one which rooted 
 and grounded the doctor, more than all his previous depth 
 of logic, in the certainty that West was a deserter. 
 
 Not ten seconds had passed between the visitor's two 
 utterances. Lacy felt that he must say something, and 
 knew not what best to say ; moreover, he feared that
 
 SOLUTION 129 
 
 his voice would at once disclose the fact that he was of 
 Northern speech ; yet he must speak, and he opened his 
 lips at a venture, discreetly keeping his face directly 
 behind the candle. 
 
 At this moment the man turned his head toward the 
 north, and at the next withdrew, saying in a hoarse 
 whisper that betrayed discomposure : " Hurry up ; I can't 
 stay here in this light somebody's a-comin'. I'll wait 
 for you down the hill." 
 
 At once Lacy blew out the light. Then he rose and 
 stood still, not venturing to step in any direction. He 
 could hear the sounds of a horse led away, and from 
 farther the sound of galloping, and he feared lest the 
 house should be searched by Confederates coming to 
 seize Usher West . . . coming for that purpose, and 
 accomplishing more. 
 
 But not long was he left in this fear ; the galloping 
 ceased, and voices reached him : one the voice of his 
 visitor, loud enough ; the other, a low voice, some of its 
 words almost undistinguishable, yet by the responses of 
 the louder he knew it was Usher's. 
 
 " Who's that in your room ? " 
 
 " Hm hm loud; hm hm." 
 
 " Oh . . . Major . . . are you ready ? " 
 
 " Hm hour hm wait ? " 
 
 "No hm hm." 
 
 "Hm too loud." 
 
 For a short minute the doctor heard whispering ; then 
 everything became silent again, and Lacy stood motionless 
 for a long time, while young West slipped into the house
 
 130 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 and got his weapons and slipped out again, to ride with 
 Tom Baxter to the rendezvous of Mosby's men, and then 
 northward upon a raid into the Federal lines. 
 
 At length the doctor heard a light tap on his door. 
 
 " What is it ? " he asked. 
 
 " Isn't it time, Doctor ? " 
 
 " Yes, it must be past time." He lighted the candle, 
 and looked at his watch. "Past one o'clock. Is it 
 possible ? " 
 
 "I've been expecting to hear you come for the last 
 half-hour," said Jennie.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 APART 
 
 " Endurance is the crowning quality, 
 And patience all the passion of great hearts. " 
 
 LOWKLL. 
 
 SQUIRE'S horse could do but little more. The old man 
 was alone in the land of the stranger, and knew not how 
 to overtake his friends, yet he must try ; though the case 
 would have been hopeless for a soldier, for a slave it was 
 only difficult. 
 
 " I dunno w'ich a-way dey's a-gwine to go," he mum- 
 bled ; " ef I knowed w'ich a-way dey wus a-gwine to go, 
 an' w'ich a-way dey's a-gwine to come back ag'in, den I 
 mought cut acrawst an' git ahaid of 'em . . . but I dunno 
 w'ich a-way dey's a-gwine to go. Wen we come oveh 
 heah oncet befo'e, we crawssed away up high an' den we 
 crawssed back ag'in into ole Fihginny away down low, 
 an' I 'spec' we's a-gwine to do de same way dis time . . . 
 but den we didn't crawssed away up high dis time. Dis 
 dam hoss is done mint me, feh sho." 
 
 The beast had sunk down on the road and now 
 refused to budge. Squire took off the trappings, thrust 
 his head through the bridle, slung the saddle upon his 
 shoulders, and pushed on. He must outmarch Stuart's 
 cavalry, already many miles ahead. But his load was heavy, 
 
 131
 
 132 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 and the heat was great. Before he had made half a mile, 
 seeing that he was only breaking himself down, he went 
 a little distance into the wood and held a consultation. 
 
 " De ain't noth'n' but one thing dat ole Squiah kin do 
 now. He ain't got to keep awn up dis road, an' he ain't 
 got to try to ketch up wid 'em no mo'e ; but he dess got to 
 cut acrawst an' haid 'em awff, leastways ef he can't fine 
 anotheh hoss . . . but w'ich a-way to go, dat I dunno, 
 dam 'f I do. De good book hit say look not, sinneh, to 
 de right han' road, noh to de lef han' road, but keep 
 awn a-movin' awn de straight an' nahrow paf; but I 
 ain't seed no nahrow paf; an' I dess obleeged to do 
 some'h'm. I's not a-gwine to go back ag'in ; now I 
 let shu know dat." 
 
 Totally ignorant in regard to his immediate surround- 
 ings, as well as to the larger geography of this and every 
 other region, the negro was at an utter loss for a clew to 
 help his decision, and he remained long as he was, unwill- 
 ing to take any step that might be for the worse. But at 
 length he sprang to his feet. 
 
 " I knows dess w'at /' a-gwine to do. I's dess a-gwine 
 to do lak I use to do w'en I was sont to hunt de cows : 
 dat's w'at J 1 * a-gwine to do. Now, you heah me ? " 
 
 He held his left palm, bowl-like, before him, and spat 
 in it ; then the broad right forefinger descended violently 
 upon the artificial lakelet, he intently watching for the 
 direction in which the smitten waters would fly. 
 
 At once he stooped, picked up the bridle only, and 
 began to walk rapidly toward the northwest.
 
 APART 133 
 
 A mile north of the spot where he had encountered 
 the Federal captain, Morgan led his friends again into the 
 highroad. Seiicy was directed to ride a furlong in the 
 advance, for a repetition of past good luck could not be 
 hoped for ; no more squads of Yankees must be met. 
 The speed was not pressed, for all the horses were show- 
 ing signs of weakness ; they must be saved for the possi- 
 bility of a race ; besides, they still had a little hope that 
 Squire would overtake them. 
 
 Sency saw that many wheels had churned the crumpled 
 dust left by the cavalry ; many tracks, but not the broad 
 tracks of cannon. Stuart had begun his march without 
 encumbrance of wagons whence these parallel lines that 
 had obliterated so many hoof prints ? Sency rode on, 
 looking sharply ahead, but thinking of the tracks. " I'm 
 afraid of those wagons," thought George ; " if Stuart has 
 captured them, he ought to burn them. However, if he 
 doesn't he will play into our hands, for we'll soon over- 
 take those same wagons ; but he will play into the 
 Yankees' hands, too. I believe Stuart has captured a 
 wagon train, and he'll hang to it like grim death to a 
 dead nigger." 
 
 Sency met civilians, whom he passed without conversa- 
 tion. Some of them looked at him curiously. 
 
 Back at the rear Morgan had observed the tracks. 
 
 " See these wagon tracks, Charley ? " 
 
 " Yes ; what do you reckon made 'em ? " 
 
 " I'm going to get down and see if I can tell which way 
 they went." 
 
 But with all his experience Morgan was unable to deter-
 
 134 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 mine, and lie remounted and rode on. There were many 
 small hoof prints, those of mules, no doubt, pointing 
 north, and a few pointing south ; but in the road, between 
 the ruts and outside, the dust had been torn here and 
 compacted there, and so trodden everywhere one hoof 
 print on top of another that for long he could not 
 decide ; but at length a small brook was crossed, and he 
 cried : " There, Joe ! See that ? " 
 
 " Yes ; I'm a-thinkin' them waggins is gone on ahead." 
 
 " Beyond a doubt we're following them ; the wheels 
 have slung the wet mud all about over here." 
 
 Civilians were met ; farmers were seen at work, some 
 of them pausing to look. One man shouted from his 
 yard gate : " Better be keerful ! Whole gang o' rebs 
 went by here last night ! They're not fur ahead of 
 you I " 
 
 " How do you know they're not far ? " shouted the 
 sergeant in return. 
 
 "'Cause they're goin' slow." 
 
 " None of our men up the road ? " 
 
 " Mighty few. One company rid by an hour ago." 
 
 " Riding fast ? " 
 
 "In a trot." 
 
 " What made all these wagon tracks ? " 
 
 " Rebs got a whole raft of our wagons way down below. 
 They took 'em by here before day." 
 
 And now Morgan, as well as Sency, knew that Stuart's 
 column could be overtaken, because its speed must not be 
 greater than that of the wagons ; all that was needed was 
 to shun the company of Federal cavalry hanging on
 
 APART 135 
 
 Stuart's rear. The sergeant rode forward rapidly and 
 joined Sency. 
 
 "There's a company of Yankee cavalry ahead, George." 
 
 " How did you learn that ? " 
 
 " A man told me they passed his house an hour ago." 
 
 " A mighty little company, then," says George. " Look 
 how few tracks have broken into the ruts about one in 
 every ten yards. That man has no idea how to count 
 cavalry ; he would think a company was a regiment." 
 
 " See these wagon tracks ? " 
 
 " Been lookin' at 'em." 
 
 "Stuart has taken a wagon train, and has it in tow. 
 All we have to do is to take care of ourselves ; we have 
 plenty of time." 
 
 " Yes, I see. Wonder what on earth the general means 
 by holding on to those wagons ; better burn 'em, and 
 'git furder ' as the boys say." 
 
 " Not in him as long as he sees a chance to bring 'em in." 
 
 The two were riding on slowly. " There now, see 
 that ! " said George. 
 
 " Yes, but what are they ? " 
 
 They had halted, and Sency was dismounting. He had 
 pointed to the ground, where Morgan could see that the 
 wheel tracks were now imprinted with a greater number 
 of hoofs, the ruts broken into at every foot. 
 
 Sency walked, bending over, leading his horse. 
 
 " Our men ! " he exclaimed, and began to mount. 
 " Yes," he continued, " fully a fourth of 'em are barefoot. 
 The general has put a rear-guard behind the wagons. 
 Wonder what regiment it is."
 
 136 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " We ought to run against that squad of Yankees soon," 
 said Morgan ; " they're not strong enough to follow our 
 folks very closely. Let's halt and wait for Charley and 
 Joe." 
 
 The four held a council. Armstrong was for going 
 dead ahead and rapidly, in order to end the thing ; he 
 had no fear that Squire wouldn't make his way. Joe left 
 everything to Morgan. Sency advised prudence ; it was 
 evident, he maintained, that haste was not the thing 
 needed now ; the only thing to fear was the cavalry fol- 
 lowing Stuart's rear following only to observe. All that 
 Morgan had to do was to approach the squad of observa- 
 tion carefully, then flank 'em, and reach Stuart ; better 
 go slow and see 'em without being seen; then the rest 
 would be easy. 
 
 Morgan decided in favour of Sency's policy, and the 
 party moved on, George again in the lead. 
 
 " Dan," says Joe, " I'm a-thinkin' that old Squire must 
 ha' fell in with that Yankee cap'm you been a-talkin' 
 about." 
 
 " Let .Squire alone for that," replied Armstrong ; " I'll 
 pit him single against any of 'em, big or little. The man 
 that gets the best of Squire, has got to get up mighty 
 soon in the mornin'." 
 
 " They'll not be likely to trouble him much," said Mor- 
 gan. " I don't think they'd be hard on him, even if he 
 should tell where he belongs. But he may be delayed in 
 getting through." 
 
 " I'll bet he gets to Lee's army before Stuart does," 
 says Armstrong. "Hello! hear that? Stand by Sency
 
 APART 137 
 
 now, boys," as two or three shots were heard a quarter 
 of a mile at the front, and then a scattering volley. 
 
 The three broke into a gallop forward, and, at the next 
 turn of the road, found Sency halted by its side in the 
 bushes, intently watching and listening ; and now every 
 man could hear a far clatter of approaching hoofs from the 
 north. 
 
 " Hide and let 'em pass," ordered the sergeant, and 
 the group rode away into the wood. 
 
 Morgan dismounted and went back to watch the road. 
 The sound of hoofs was distinct, and increasing com- 
 ing, and soon he saw a mournful group on the road before 
 him. Three Federals were riding in the front at a slow 
 walk. A centre group was composed of two living men 
 and two dead, the bodies lying across the horses which 
 had doubtless been ridden by the men recently slain. A 
 group of four brought up the rear all moving slowly, all 
 with heads bent down as though repenting the crime of 
 rashness. 
 
 No danger was to be feared from these men. Without 
 waiting until they had disappeared, the sergeant returned 
 to his comrades ; they mounted and rode at an angle into 
 the highway, and then north, and when they had reached 
 the top of the next hill Stuart's rear was in sight, with no 
 enemy between. 
 
 The column was strung along the road for miles. At 
 five o'clock Stuart, at its head, was nearing Westminster, 
 Dan Morgan having reached its rear just north of the 
 railroad at two. The wagon train separated advance and 
 rear by almost three miles, while the troops themselves
 
 138 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 took up as great a stretch of the road. The little squad 
 was under protection, but had far yet to go, and with 
 tired horses, before they could join their own regiment. 
 Yet the horses of all the troops were in no better condi- 
 tion than Morgan's, for Stuart had not brought forage, 
 and ever since the 25th, the day of his start from Salem, 
 his animals had been given but little nourishment the 
 column halting early of afternoons to graze and to collect 
 what little forage could be found on the devastated farms 
 of Prince William and Fairfax. But on the wrong side 
 of Morgan's account was the fact that he had on this day 
 already ridden fifteen miles more than the column had 
 marched, and his own beasts were no more vigorous than 
 theirs whose speed he desired to outstrip. 
 
 Sency dismounted. " What you goin' to do ? " asked 
 Joe. 
 
 " I'm going to foot it. My horse'll give out if I don't." 
 George had not originated ; many of the worst mounted 
 of the troopers were already afoot and leading their 
 horses, for the march was a slow walk, easy for a foot- 
 man to equal. Sency's companions followed his example 
 and the four went forward, slowly gaining distance on the 
 moving column which was compelled to preserve its march- 
 ing ranks. Rests were frequent ; the Confederate cavalry 
 now barely averaged two miles to the hour. At one of 
 these rests, seeing that a great gain had been made, Sency 
 proposed to take time to hunt food to give the ani- 
 mals one good rest, and then push on. He had some 
 greenbacks, he said, and the Maryland farmers would sell 
 them hay, oats, corn, anything ... if that whole regi-
 
 APART 139 
 
 ment which they had passed were to halt and demand it, 
 they could find feed enough within a mile. Morgan con- 
 sented, and Sency and Joe went off and returned loaded 
 with oats and dry forage, just what the grass-fed horses 
 had needed. 
 
 At dark, Morgan's men reached Fitz Lee's brigade at 
 Westminster, where but few hours previously the Fourth 
 Virginia had encountered the First Delaware under Major 
 Knight, who lost sixty-seven out of ninety-five men in 
 a contest brave but unwise. At Westminster the tired 
 Confederates found ample supplies for horses and men, 
 and rested until the column was well closed. Then in 
 the darkness the march was continued six miles farther 
 to Union Mills, where a halt was called for the remainder 
 of the night. 
 
 Stuart learned that a strong Federal force of cavalry 
 was at Littlestown, blocking the road to Gettysburg. 
 On the morning of the 30th the Confederates marched on 
 Hanover, ten miles north, making for York, where Stuart 
 hoped to find a division of Lee's army ; but Kilpatrick, at 
 Littlestown, had been only seven miles from Hanover, 
 and when the Confederates came in sight of Hanover they 
 saw that it was held by their enemies. 
 
 The Confederate artillery opened on Hanover; the 
 Second North Carolina cavalry charged down Frederick 
 Street, momentarily causing confusion, but Farnsworth 
 rallied his brigade and the tide turned ; the Confederates 
 were swept back, and Stuart was in great personal dan- 
 ger, saving himself by an extraordinary leap of his horse. 
 The Confederates withdrew to the hills southeast of the
 
 140 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 town, and seemed to make preparations for vigorous 
 battle. 
 
 Fitz Lee's brigade, near the head of which rode Morgan 
 and his friends, was ordered to file to the right and make 
 for Jefferson eight miles east, the wagon train following. 
 Stuart held the remainder of his command in open view 
 of Kilpatrick until nightfall ; then he followed Lee. All 
 through the night the march continued : first to Jefferson ; 
 thence north to Dover, fifteen miles, where in the early morn- 
 ing hours a halt was called to allow the column to close up. 
 
 It was now July 1, the opening day of the great battle. 
 A. P. Hill was marching from Cashtown eastward upon 
 Gettysburg; Ewell was marching from Carlisle south- 
 ward ; Longstreet was at Chambersburg, twenty-four 
 miles west of Gettysburg. At Hanover, Stuart had been 
 only eighteen miles east from Gettysburg, but ignorance 
 of the situation had led him to march a whole day and 
 night east, north, and northwest to find himself at 
 Carlisle, twenty-five miles north of the battle. 
 
 And when Carlisle was approached, instead of finding 
 it occupied by his friends, Stuart learned that it was held 
 by Federal infantry. Surrender of the town was de- 
 manded and refused, and Stuart prepared for action. 
 His artillery had begun to throw shells when mounted 
 officers from Lee rode up, bringing orders for the cavalry 
 to march at once to Gettysburg. 
 
 ****### 
 
 Armstrong had predicted that Squire would make his 
 way to Lee's army before Stuart had reached that pro- 
 tection. Certainly Armstrong's words had been dictated
 
 GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN
 
 142 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 by the wish rather than the assurance, for no Confederate 
 knew the respective difficulties. At the moment of 
 Squire's deflection to the northwest all the Federal army, 
 divided into many detachments, lay between him and 
 Gettysburg, the focal point afterward determined for the 
 concentration of Federals and Confederates. Yet the 
 Federal detachments were moving northwardly, and 
 Squire's course, decided by augury, could not possibly 
 have been better chosen : northwest was not a direct 
 course to Lee's army when it should have reached Gettys- 
 burg ; but it was the best course for avoiding the Fed- 
 erals marching northward. 
 
 Old Squire trudged along, bridle in hand. His way 
 at first was through open woods, descending a hill. He 
 sought no public road his token was the northwest, 
 and northwest he would go. He climbed fences, and 
 went around fields, and avoided farm-houses ; he waded 
 streams, and plunged through small swamps, and kept 
 on, tired and hungry, until, at sunset, he found himself 
 near a shallow river beyond which he could see a railroad 
 running across his course, with a range of hills at the 
 westward stretching northeast, for all the world like his 
 own Bull Run Mountains. 
 
 He waited until darkness came ; then he waded the 
 river and crossed the railroad ; behind him an almost full 
 moon broke through the clouds, and gave him light ; he 
 kept on across the hills until in his front he saw a wide 
 road ; then he sat down. 
 
 At this time Squire was almost due south from Gettys- 
 burg twenty-five miles.
 
 APART 143 
 
 The negro was resting in the woods, afraid to cross 
 the highroad, for it was wide and straight for a long 
 distance, and the moon gave a great light. He was very 
 hungry. 
 
 What with hunger and weariness, having had no rest 
 for thirty-six hours, old Squire went to sleep. 
 
 And while the slave lay there in the woods, Hancock's 
 corps began to march by within a stone's throw of his 
 hiding-place.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 AWAITING THE VERDICT 
 
 " Of all the paths that lead to love 
 Pity's the straightest." 
 
 BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. 
 
 SURGEON LACY believed that the rest of a day and two 
 nights, and especially the conservative effect of the bags 
 of pounded ice which with judicious intermissions had 
 been kept about his patient's wound, justified him in 
 searching for the ball which he doubted not was some- 
 where near the spine. Possibly the doctor felt that he 
 was taking a perilous chance, but by neither word nor 
 look did he betray nervousness or fear. 
 
 Though Miss West had known almost from the first 
 that the wounded man was Andrew Morgan, brother of 
 Daniel, yet at sight of the pale face she had been shocked 
 greatly by the wonderful resemblance, which for all time 
 thereafter made her feel that something more than mere 
 resemblance was here something that approached iden- 
 tity in form, in feature, and in mind. While not allowing 
 herself to remain in the sufferer's room, she nevertheless 
 gave much help to the surgeon, who demanded without 
 hesitation anything he conceived to be helpful. Jennie 
 prepared strips for bandages, hunted for lost pins every- 
 
 144
 
 AWAITING THE VERDICT 145 
 
 where, pins were rare in the Confederacy, brought 
 fresh water, pounded the ice, and relieved the surgeon 
 of so much drudgery that he was allowed to give almost 
 undivided attention to his critical case. 
 
 When came the supreme moment of probing for the 
 ball, Jennie waited in the passage, ready to lend any aid 
 possible if she should be called on ; but so well had she 
 obeyed the doctor's injunctions that nothing, which under 
 the conditions could be supplied, was lacking ; she kept 
 her place in the hall, almost breathless, suffering a sus- 
 pense which her own conscious acknowledgment of its 
 cruelty made none the less intolerable. In the chamber 
 she could hear footsteps her father's and the surgeon's, 
 as first one and then the other moved about in prepara- 
 tion for the great trial, and then, after some minutes 
 which seemed innumerable, the room became very silent, 
 and she knew that his life on whom all her hopes of joy 
 now hung was being put into the scales of time against 
 eternity. She sat there, thinking no thought of herself, 
 but all of him whom she had so suddenly loved. Sud- 
 denly ? Yes, but if she had been at that moment egoistic 
 enough to analyze her feeling and its causes, she would 
 have known that this love of hers had its origin in the 
 very helplessness of the being thrown upon her care, for 
 her love was more maternal than passionate. He was her 
 possession, she not his, and there could be no claimant 
 against her claims no rival but death. Death ! Yes, 
 death was even now fighting for its prize, and Jennie's 
 face was very pale and sad, and her heart had almost 
 ceased to beat. Yet she sat patiently, still as marble,
 
 146 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 feeling incapable of attempting such devices as are usu- 
 ally employed for the illusive abatement of suspense ; 
 her suffering was precious to her, in that it was for him : 
 let all the woe, all the pain, all the death fall upon her, 
 and all the joy go with him ; then could she be happier 
 than he. In a maiden's first passion there is the great 
 piety of sacrifice ; in all following substitutes there is a 
 greater personal demand for more than reciprocation. 
 With Virginia West there was no wish but for the life 
 and weal of him she now first loved. 
 
 The silence in the room was broken, and she stood. At 
 each successive minim of time, she thought to see the 
 door opened and her fate shown in the surgeon's eye and 
 face. But the door remained closed, though moving feet 
 could still be heard. Surely something must be wrong. 
 Had a first attempt failed, and must a second be tried ? 
 Oh, what torture to her love ! She continued to stand, 
 breathless, expectant, hopeful, despairing, her eyes fixed 
 on the door-knob that she might catch the first motion 
 of its turning. Again there was silence within. 
 
 There come periods in every gentle life periods, halts 
 of time when time ceases to move. The dial may show 
 shadows changing, the sand may run down in the glass, 
 the blood may continue to pump forth and back, but the 
 objects are unreal and the pumping blood is no longer 
 an experience all of the subjective has concentrated 
 against one single point that fixes itself immovable and 
 becomes the world. So now to Virginia the door-knob 
 was the only visible thing, diminishing to naught all 
 other things ; it must turn, and in her supreme anxiety
 
 AWAITING THE VERDICT H7 
 
 and fear an almost uncontrollable impulse seized her to 
 step forward and do the turning, for each second stood 
 in the way of the next and prevented its coming. 
 
 But the door-knob turned. How long was it in turn- 
 ing ? From the first movement, which the intent eye 
 had detected by the varying light on its irregular surface, 
 until she could see beyond the opening door, there had 
 been but a fraction of a second ; yet long enough for the 
 girl to repeat a thousand alternations of life and death 
 death and life, let us say, for now her eyes lifted to 
 the height of the surgeon's face all aglow with the superb 
 light of professional achievement, and instantly leaped to 
 the left a foot, and fastened upon a small round object 
 which Lacy held in triumph between his forefinger and 
 thumb. 
 
 The girl fled to her room and locked it, every nerve 
 a-tremble, every muscle quivering ; then she sank to her 
 knees and bathed her coverlet with tears of love and 
 thanksgiving.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BARNEY 
 
 " When I was at home I was in a better place." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 OLD SQUIRE'S sleep was untroubled except from the 
 pinchings of an empty stomach that brought on tantaliz- 
 ing dreams of huge corn-pones and big flat rashers. When 
 his hunger woke him, he failed for a little while to know 
 himself and his condition ; but cruel reality quickly came 
 and prompted exertion difficult to determine and to effect. 
 His Mahs Chahley was far, perhaps in a more deplorable 
 case than his own, and the negro's heart sank in think- 
 ing vaguely of the unknown difficulties that must be over- 
 come before they might meet ; then his mind went to ole 
 Mahsta and Mistis, and to Miss Lucy, and to Judy, very far 
 away in the Virginia mountains, safe from the touch of 
 actual war, and he wished that he was with them. 
 
 Night had taken away fear of detection, but had added 
 to the terror always inspired by the unknown. Squire 
 muttered a prayer and started to cross the highroad. He 
 would get on its western side and keep by its edge in the 
 shadows ; for though by the stars he knew that the road 
 here was running northerly, if not toward the east a little, 
 
 148
 
 BARNEY 149 
 
 yet he would bend to suit it until it deflected too far from 
 his purposed course. The moon was almost overhead ; 
 in the open road there would be no shadow to hide him. 
 He listened . . . was there not a sound at his left ? He lay 
 flat, with ear to the ground, and could hear many noises 
 mingling into a confused murmur which he at once recog- 
 nized as the composite sound made by a marching in- 
 fantry column, getting nearer and nearer. And then he 
 was torn by hope and fear : were the advancing troops 
 Federal, or were they Southern ? He must not fly and 
 renounce the chance for protection, nor must he allow 
 himself to be stopped by a column of the enemy interven- 
 ing to the west ; he ran straight across the road and 
 crouched in the bushes. 
 
 But after a little the noises ceased. Perhaps a halt had 
 been ordered for rest ; perhaps the troops had turned off 
 on another road ; perhaps they had halted for the night. 
 Squire had sufficient knowledge of relation to know at 
 once that there were two chances out of three three out 
 of four if he had thought of the possibility of a counter- 
 march that the troops would not on this night pass his 
 present place of hiding, and he decided, whether wisely or 
 not, that his next step must be to learn whether they were 
 preparing to bivouac ; so he rose and stole along the road- 
 side southwestward, but in less than a hundred yards he 
 reached the edge of the wood and saw a broad open field 
 before him. 
 
 He hesitated, considering that the field was large 
 enough to reach the point from which the sounds had 
 come, and even while he considered he saw a little point
 
 150 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 of light far away, which was extinguished immediately; 
 but another, and another, and then many, and he knew 
 that a great body of soldiers were near him, in the act of 
 kindling numerous fires, preparing, before they should 
 sleep, to satisfy their own hunger, and increasing his own 
 to agony. 
 
 Though bivouac fires are not peculiar to friend or 
 enemy, yet Squire was almost convinced that the troops 
 before him were Federal. In the South, matches were 
 few and valuable ; he knew that Southern soldiers were 
 slow in making bivouac fires, waiting to get a coal or 
 flame from their fortunate comrades, while iu his sight 
 a multitude of flames had started almost simultaneously. 
 Yet this indication was not conclusive, and Squire waited ; 
 for there was another line of reasoning which would 
 bring him to an entirely contrary opinion : he knew that 
 Federal soldiers were not forced to do so much cooking as 
 their Southern brethren were compelled to do, the Federal 
 ration of bread usually being hardtack, and the Confed- 
 erate, raw flour. In the light of a moon almost round 
 there would be little need of other light for choosing 
 places and spreading blankets, and the weather was warm ; 
 but then, thought the slave, many would want to boil 
 coffee ; he would wait and would be prudent it takes 
 no great fire to boil a cup of water. 
 
 A little at his right he saw that the ground sloped 
 downward to a thin strip of bushes ; a stream was there, 
 he thought, and at once he walked down the slope, for he 
 was thirsty, and the bushes would screen him in his 
 advance nearer to the fires. He found a brook, running
 
 BARNEY 151 
 
 to his rear, and drank ; then he followed the line of strag- 
 gling bushes, which stretched not directly toward his 
 object, but approached gradually. The hollow deepened 
 and Squire felt secure. Near enough, he crawled up the 
 slope at his left, and lying there could see many men 
 gathered around small fires, and others moving this way 
 and that ; but most of them had taken off their coats, 
 and he could not tell the colour of their uniforms. Long 
 stacks of arms reflected the moonlight, and these arms 
 showed the bayonet another indication that the troops 
 were Federal ; for many of the Confederate infantry, 
 through lack or through purpose, did not burden them- 
 selves with this comparatively useless weapon, and Squire 
 knew that, in the Southern ranks, stacks were frequently 
 formed by using the heads of the rammers. And then the 
 negro heard the steady tramp of a few men near by and a 
 moment later saw a squad pass, a sergeant no doubt, 
 engaged in the duty of posting a camp-guard, and he 
 could see the diagonal shoulder belts for their cartridge- 
 boxes a distinctly Federal token, for the Southerners, 
 almost to a man, placed cap-box, scabbard, and cartridge- 
 box on one single waist belt. 
 
 Squire crept back to the hollow, and went to the woods 
 again, and pursued his way northward, avoiding the road, 
 upon which he could now see moving wagons. He was 
 greatly disheartened ; his hope for relief, for food, for 
 protection, had gone, and in its place were fear and 
 sharper hunger ; yet he trudged along, though painfully, 
 looking well ahead and about him for any evidence of a 
 habitation where he might beg a little food he must
 
 152 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 take risks or starve. He passed the spot where he had 
 slept ; it was at his right rear some forty rods, when he 
 was brought to a stand by fires in his front. 
 
 Yes, there they were, stretching far on both sides of his 
 road, and he knew at once that troops had marched past 
 him while he slept, and had halted for the night beyond 
 him he was between two divisions of the enemy. 
 
 But for the negro's physical weakness, the situation 
 would not have been perilous ; strong and unweary, he 
 would but have given himself the task of walking far 
 around this encampment; but to the exhausted a mile 
 more is an enormity. He sat down and then lay flat on 
 his face, this time without alertness, almost in despair. 
 
 Then, in a moment, he stood again the sound of 
 marching came from his rear, and its meaning was plain : 
 a great body of troops, perhaps a full army corps, was by 
 divisions coming from rear to front, and successively tak- 
 ing up their places for the night, and the division or 
 brigade which he now heard would soon bivouac in the 
 interval where he was standing, ready for its position in 
 the column on the morrow. Old Squire had interpreted 
 correctly : General Meade was concentrating toward Get- 
 tysburg ; the troops on the road were the Second Corps, 
 under General Hancock ; they had marched from Monoc- 
 acy Junction, and were halting according to the order of 
 the next march. 
 
 But Squire's fright soon diminished ; he decided to be 
 still and let the troops camp around him. They would 
 not suspect him ; he was not getting into their lines ; 
 they were getting into his.
 
 BARNEY 153 
 
 A regiment filed to the left of the road, stacked arms, 
 and broke ranks; another passed farther and filed to 
 the left, parallel with the first, not a hundred yards 
 separating the two, stacked arms and broke ranks, the 
 negro between the lines. Other regiments filed on and 
 formed. 
 
 The negro was standing still. All round him men were 
 making lights, men were searching for fuel in the woods, 
 the interval between the stacked arms thickly swarming 
 with men. Under his feet lay dead sticks and leaves. 
 Squire gathered an armful and walked to the nearest 
 regiment, passing men who gave no attention to him. 
 Before him were clusters of men, gathered about feeble 
 flames on the ground. 
 
 " Mahsta, I's got some kindlin' f uh you," says the old 
 man, showing his fuel. 
 
 " All right, sonny, hand her here. Where'd you come 
 from ? Live about here ? " 
 
 " No, sah, I b'longs wi' de calvry ; but dey's done 
 went awn an' I couldn't keep up wid 'em no mo'e." 
 
 Old Squire's kindling flamed up, and lighted his face 
 and the faces of six infantrymen, their eyes on the fire, 
 each eager to finish and get to rest. 
 
 " What cavalry's that you belong to ? " 
 
 "You know Mahs Dan Mawgin, Mahsta? He's de 
 man w'at I 'tends to." 
 
 " Know where any water is? " asked another, but little 
 interested in Morgans. 
 
 " Yassah, dey's a good branch a little ways out yan- 
 deh. Ef you wants me, I kin show it to you, an' all I
 
 154 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 axes is some'h'm to eat, an' to stay long wid ju all, tell I 
 kin ketch up wi' de calvry." 
 
 "All right, old man; come on, and show me the 
 way." 
 
 It would have been less irregular, perhaps, for these 
 men to report at once to their officers the presence of a 
 stranger, but the help offered was not to be renounced ; 
 besides, there was the lieutenant, at the next fire but one, 
 and he could see for himself why report a fact that is 
 already evident? 
 
 Squire found the water, picked up more fuel in return- 
 ing, helped in the quick boiling of the coffee, made him- 
 self so useful to the men that each contributed from his 
 rations for the negro's wants, and on the next morning, 
 June 30, he found himself brevetted without ceremony 
 as the temporary camp-servant of the mess which he had 
 taken in, and followed, on July 1, along with other 
 servants, in the rear of the regiment in its march on 
 Gettysburg. 
 
 Many and wonderful were the questions which had 
 been asked him ; but by simulating ignorance of organ- 
 ization and locality, he had evaded serious inquiry. 
 
 The old man had learned from the soldiers' talk that 
 a great battle was expected ; he would march to the field, 
 knowing that thus he should reach his friends by the most 
 sure and direct road. Before the battle, or after, as the 
 case might be determined for him, he would slip away in 
 the night and rejoin Mahs Chahley. He had abandoned 
 his bridle, and had picked up an old blouse thrown away 
 by some burdened infantryman.
 
 BARNEY 155 
 
 On the morning of the 1st the corps was near Taney- 
 town, twelve miles southeast from Gettysburg. The 
 march was continued, and soon it became rapid, and ru- 
 mours were thick concerning battle that had begun far 
 at the front. Officers rode back and forth along the 
 column, pressing the march, and all camp followers were 
 ordered out of the roadway. At length Squire found 
 himself in a crowd of non-combatants, white and black, at 
 the rear of the division ; there were ambulances, baggage 
 wagons, teamsters too many, a few civilians, sutlers, 
 stragglers, the half sick, everything that swells the crowd 
 that hangs to the rear of an army about to engage in 
 battle. The old man easily succeeded in attaching him- 
 self to one of the sutlers. 
 
 The advance of the camp followers had been arrested. 
 The column had gone on ; the roar of artillery could be 
 heard, though as yet miles to the northwest. The middle 
 of the afternoon had come. Squire was lying under the 
 sutler's wagon, drawn aside from the road which must 
 not be blocked ; he had fed the horses, and had fed him- 
 self heavily, and was half dozing ; yet with his head on 
 the bare earth he could not fail to feel the throbbing of 
 Hall's and Cooper's guns vainly resisting the advance 
 of Hill and Ewell into Gettysburg, and the sounds kept 
 him from actual sleep. Squads of mounted men were 
 galloping, some north, some south ; from time to time a 
 courier would dash along, throwing the thick dust far and 
 wide some runner sent by the anxious Meade to hurry 
 the march of a belated division. Not yet were the ambu- 
 lances seen so far in the rear with their loads of wounded
 
 156 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 and dying the field hospitals were nearer the battle- 
 ground. 
 
 "Say there, old man," shouted the sutler from the in- 
 side of the wagon ; " get up and water the horses." 
 
 " Yassah ; whah I gwine to git de wateh, Mahsta, up 
 yandeh at dat house, whah dem yotheh men's a-gwine?" 
 
 " Yes ; a bucketful apiece will do." 
 
 Squire had to cross the road ; he followed another 
 negro who, with buckets in hand, had also started a 
 young man, tall, brown, sprightly ; he had come from the 
 direction of the baggage wagons. Just as they were in 
 the middle of the road a horseman spurring hard from 
 the south swerved to avoid the old man, and in an- 
 other second reined up violently and turned. 
 
 "Well," he said, "how is it by this time?" 
 
 The young negro had stopped by the roadside; he 
 lifted his cap, but the horseman failed to observe. 
 
 " Mahsta, dat no 'count hoss, he done guv clean out, 
 an' lef me awn de groun'; you seed Mahs Dan any mo'e, 
 Mahsta?" 
 
 " No ; say, do you know Captain Freeman ? " laughed 
 the rider. 
 
 " Cap'm Freeman ? No, Mahsta ; I mought ha' seed 
 him, sah, but I dunno his name leastways I done mos' 
 fohgot. Is Mahs Dan wid him, sah ? " 
 
 " Didn't you come to Captain Freeman over in Lou- 
 doun and tell him to come and get Lieutenant Morgan, 
 who was wounded, you said ? Now, old man, own up. 
 Tell me what you meant by playing that trick. Who 
 was it that Freeman got ? "
 
 BARNEY 157 
 
 Old Squire put down his buckets and scratched his 
 head. " Mahsta, is Mahs Dan huht bad ? I ain't nuvveh 
 cotch up wid 'im, sah, seuce dat yotheh day dess befo'e 
 I met up wid ju, Mahsta. Is Mahs Dan huht bad ? " 
 
 " Old man, you're a sharp one ; but I tell you, Free- 
 man's got a crow to pick with you. He says you fooled 
 him. Let me see what's your name ? " The horseman 
 was laughing, notwithstanding his words. The presence, 
 here in the Federal army, of the negro who had befooled 
 Freeman, could not possibly cause Dahlgren to suspect 
 that he himself had been the deceived. 
 
 " John," said Squire, promptly. 
 
 " Do you know a man named Squire ? " 
 
 "Oh, yassah, I knows de man dey calls ole Squiah. 
 Squiah he live down in ole Fihginny ; he ain't no 'count. 
 You know Squiah, Mahsta?" 
 
 " Where is he ? " 
 
 " Squiah ? I 'spec' he some'h's about, Mahsta. He say 
 he gwine wi' Mahs Dan hese'f, an' I 'spec' he tryin' to 
 fine him now, sah." 
 
 "Well, you and Squire between you have got the 
 captain well worked up. Better settle it, old man," 
 and the horseman, still laughing, shook his whip at 
 Squire and rode north, having already knocked up one 
 horse on his great ride this day, pushing on to carry to 
 his general the captured letter of Davis to Lee. 
 
 "Lawd Gawd fohgive ole Squiah feh tellin' lies awn 
 hese'f," muttered the old man, picking up his buckets ; 
 " but den de good book hit say dat dou shalt not mek no 
 false witness ag'in yo' neighbouh an' I ain't no Squiah's
 
 158 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 neighbouh ; I is ole Squiah hese'f , dat I is, an' ef I 
 tell a lie ag'in ole Squiah de good book hit don't say 
 nothin' ag'in dat. But I's a-gwine to fight shy o' dat 
 man now I is, feh sho'." 
 
 This soliloquy was hardly ended before the young 
 negro, who had waited, accosted the old one. 
 
 "Unc John, do you know dat man you was a-talkin' 
 to?" 
 
 "Yas, chile leastways I's seed him befo'e. Doezh 
 zhu know him ? " 
 
 " Dat's Cap'm Dalgreen. I use to know him, but he's 
 done fohgot. Whah you be'n all dis time dat I ain't 
 seed you befo'e now ? " And the young negro looked 
 curiously at the old man. 
 
 " Me ? Blesh yo' life, chile, I's be'n nios' eve'y whah ; 
 I's be'n in ole Fihginny, an' I's be'n oveh in Mellan' an' 
 Penns'vania, an' in Loudoun, an' mos' down to Richmon', 
 an mos' eve'y whah. Who izh you wid ? " 
 
 "I'm with one o' dem baggage wagging. You done 
 runned feh freedom, Unc John?" 
 
 " Me ? Wat I want feh to run ? I's a-gitt'n' mighty 
 ole an' stiff to be a-runnin', an' de good book hit say hit 
 ain't no use to put yo' pennence in runnin', noh in fight'n' 
 notheh. You don't go wi' de fight'n' men doezh zhu, 
 chile?" 
 
 " Dey come an' tuck me away," said the younger man 
 in a low voice. 
 
 " Whah you raised, chile ? Wat sho' name ? " 
 
 " My name Bahney, Unc John ; I be'n tuck away f om 
 my folks way down in Goochlan', an' I ain't had no
 
 BARNEY 159 
 
 chance to git back no mo'e. Lemme draw de wateh 
 fuh you, Unc John." 
 
 " Dat's right. De good book hit say be ye kine to de 
 ole man, 'cazhe you dunno w'en you got to lay in de same 
 bed. How long you done be'n away f'om home ? " 
 
 " Dey tuck me when dey come down dah las' yeah ; I 
 disremembeh how long hit's been exackly." 
 
 Old Squire did not approve of Barney's lack of enter- 
 prise ; he had no doubt that many opportunities for 
 escape had been neglected ; this young fellow seemed 
 deferential and obliging, but not yet did the old man 
 decide to trust him, for Squire knew that the slaves were 
 greatly divided in opinion as to their proper course. 
 Given the incentive of freedom on the one hand and the 
 centripetal influence of home on the other, those who held 
 to home and kindred would be the old ; while the young 
 would covet liberty and the excitement of novel scenes 
 even though dangerous ; many would be incapable of a 
 firm decision, and would act rashly and repent afterward. 
 
 " You ain't tole me who you is wid," said Squire. 
 
 "I've got a job wi' dem waggins. You see dem 
 waggins right oveh yondeh whah dem gray mules is? 
 Dat's my place now." 
 
 " You ain't be'n wid 'em all de time ? " asked the old 
 man, shrewdly observing the conditional ending of 
 Barney's speech. 
 
 "No, sah ; fust I was with Cap'm Freeman." 
 
 " Wat Cap'm Freeman dat shu talkin' about, chile ? " 
 
 " Cap'm Bob Freeman ; same man dat Cap'm Dalgreen 
 was a-talkin' about ; but he done got mos' kilt down to
 
 160 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Kelly's Fohd, an' I jest had to do the bes' I could. Who 
 you with, Unc John ? " 
 
 "Wid Misteh Woods dat sutleh's waggin. Much 
 obleeged, Bahney," and Squire picked up one of his 
 buckets. " Ef I don't see you no mo'e, Bahney, I's 
 a-gwine to tell you good-by," and they shook hands ; 
 but Barney whispered, " I'm a-gwine to come and see 
 you ag'in, Unc John." 
 
 " Well, Bahney, you kin come, an' ef you sticks to me den 
 you need'n' to call me Unc John no mo'e. I be'n call my 
 right name John feh dat man w'at rid by wid he whup, 
 but Squiah'll do feh you, Bahney, leastways ef you sticks 
 to me." 
 
 As he went back, Squire was vaguely disturbed by fears 
 and disconnected thoughts for his race. This Barney, like 
 many others, had been enticed from home by alluring pros- 
 pects that could never be made valid. Squire knew the 
 type ; his own fellows, whom he had seen grow up around 
 him, had gone from home, most of them to a life of suf- 
 fering of which from time to time he had indistinctly heard 
 wretched rumours. He pitied them, and pitied Barney, 
 whom he rated as wanting in decision ; for he could not be- 
 lieve that for a whole year the young fellow had never found 
 opportunity to abandon the life he was now leading. To 
 Squire's mind there was no possibility of doubt concerning 
 his own interest ; his friends were all of one side ; his 
 home, which to him was not the uncertain possession of a 
 few years to be abandoned for another when change should 
 come, was the home of his fathers and his children one 
 lasting, earthly home that could not be disputed. The
 
 BARNEY 161 
 
 sojourn in the Virginia mountains was but a visit ; his 
 people would return, and home would be home again. 
 And as for Barney, the old man believed that he, too, loved 
 his home, and wanted to return to it, and he felt something 
 akin to contempt for the strong young man who allowed 
 slight difficulties to prevent his realizing the dearest of 
 
 Toward night the roar of the guns had died away, and 
 the highway was filled with infantry in double columns 
 hastening forward for the renewal of the battle. The 
 crowds in the rear held their places, the provost-marshal 
 having placed a guard in their way a guard sufficiently 
 strong to keep them from moving toward the perilous front. 
 
 Slavery encouraged respect for the old. There were 
 other negroes around, in the disconnected camps of the 
 loose crowd in the rear, but somehow Barney was attracted 
 to Squire ; he came to the old man. 
 
 " Unc Squiah, did ju come away f 'om home willin' ? " 
 
 " Chile, de good book hit say don't shu git in too big a 
 hurry to move de ole lan'mahk an' to fohsake de people 
 w'at shu raised up wid. I corned f'om home, Bahney, but 
 I's a-gwine to git back ag'in leastways ef de good 
 Lawd'll be awn my side dess one mo'e time. W'at fuh 
 you ax me dat queshton ? " 
 
 " 'Gaze I jest wants to see de Jim Riveh so bad dat I 
 can't rest. My ole mammy is down dah, an' my daddy is 
 done dead, an' I don't know uothin' about what's become 
 of 'em all, an' I don't see nothin' no mo'e but trouble." 
 
 " W'at mek you done lef ' 'em ? " 
 
 " 'Gaze I ain't had no betteh sense. Dey done tole me
 
 162 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 dat de white folks is mean to me, an' now dey is jest as 
 mean an' wuss. When de cap'm was heah he treated me 
 right, but now I sho' wants to git back. Dis heah country 
 ain't like what I wants. How you gwine to git back, Unc 
 Squiah?" 
 
 " Wat shu ax dat fuh ? You gwine to go wid me w'en 
 I go?" 
 
 " Unc Squiah, ef you jest let me go too, I'll wohk my 
 fingehs off to help you awn de way." 
 
 " But how we gwine to mek any staht now ? Don't shu 
 know dey's a-fight'n' up de road ? " 
 
 "Yes, sah, but we can go back. We can staht back 
 down to Vihginny." 
 
 This proposition had no charm for Squire ; he must seek 
 and find Mahs Chahley. 
 
 " But, Bahney, chile, de way to git back, hit ain't to go 
 dat a-way hit's to go dis a- way," pointing northeast, 
 in which direction the old man had seen his friends of the 
 Confederate cavalry ride. 
 
 " How come dat, Unc Squiah ? " 
 
 " 'Caze dat's de way to fine ouah folks, an' w'en dey gits 
 done fight'n' dey'll go back to ole Fihginny, an' den we 
 kin go back wid 'em. Ef dey gains de day, den dey kin 
 go back, an' ef dey don't gain de day, den dey's got to go 
 back." 
 
 Which reasoning convinced Barney, and a plot was laid 
 for an attempt on the following night.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE MEETING 
 
 " Where mingles war's rattle 
 With groans of the dying." 
 
 SCOTT. 
 
 THE night of July 1 brought rest to Squire, but 
 little rest to the Union army. The First corps, de- 
 feated, the Eleventh, badly disorganized, were gather- 
 ing their scattered men in rear of the Third and Twelfth, 
 who were intrenching, while the Second, near at hand, and 
 the Fifth and Sixth, a day's march behind, were hastening 
 to the relief of the discomfited on whom the brunt of to- 
 morrow's battle must not be allowed to fall. 
 
 The morning of the 2d came and went. Stuart had 
 marched south from Carlisle, and was now on Lee's left 
 flank. Squire, at Meade's far rear on the Taneytown 
 road, heard the pounding of artillery west, northwest, 
 almost north, and knew that a great battle was waging, 
 but knew not in whose favour. Among the crowds of 
 camp followers there had spread many startling rumours : 
 how that Gettysburg was occupied by the rebels, General 
 Reynolds killed, a great defeat inevitable ; and it was 
 said that a council of war had decided on retreat, yet 
 there were no strong indications of a withdrawal. Many 
 
 163
 
 164 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 ambulances had gone by to the rear, and many slightly 
 wounded afoot, and at times the road was almost filled 
 with straggling men making their way from the battle in 
 spite of the weak provost-guard ; but ambulances and 
 wounds and rumours of great losses may not mean a de- 
 feated army ; no battle, in which the opponents number 
 scores of thousands, is won or lost without many fluctua- 
 tions of the bloody wave : here it rises high and sub- 
 merges the foe, but it ebbs, and rolls back on those who 
 think their feet have touched the solid earth; while at 
 some adjacent curve the tide sweeps forward upon treach- 
 erous ground that lures to destruction. The long front 
 lines of men sway forth and back, this way and that way, 
 repulsed here, victorious there, and the average of the 
 battle for or against, no man in the line may know. He 
 must fight the enemy in his front ; the brigade at the 
 right may succeed ; but if that at his left be repulsed, his 
 own brigade gives way, so great is the dread of being 
 flanked and captured. 
 
 In the afternoon the west roared for hours, too far 
 away for Squire to hear the musketry of Longstreet and 
 Sickles, except in its greatest volumes, but constant and 
 loud with cannon. 
 
 The negro's instinct persisted in placing his friends at 
 his right, and he had determined to seek the Confederate 
 left, not knowing that he was separated from Lee's right 
 by but half the distance to Stuart. When darkness 
 should come, which would not be darkness, for a full 
 moon would rise at twilight, the two negroes would meet 
 at the well, where time and again they had gone for water.
 
 THE MEETING 165 
 
 Squire was taciturn, deliberate, resolved ; Barney, capri- 
 cious, talkative, intermittently uncertain. Squire endeav- 
 oured to strengthen him but failed, and wished to be alone. 
 
 The moon was rising above the trees. In the yard 
 around them were many men, some camping here for the 
 sheltering grove, others waiting their turn for water. The 
 old negro led the way, Barney closely following. In the 
 northwest the noise of battle had died ; but it had broken 
 out in the north, a little to the left of their course, where 
 at this moment Johnson's division of E well's corps had 
 carried the Federal intrenchments on the slope of Gulp's 
 Hill. 
 
 There was no need at first for stealth ; as yet there 
 were wagons all round them, bivouacs of this and that, 
 reserve artillery, officers' baggage wagons, medical people's 
 tents deserted except by a servant or two, skulk- 
 ing stragglers, moving men, single and in groups mov- 
 ing in every direction. Yet Squire avoided unnecessary 
 publicity ; he kept away from the groups, away from the 
 fires, and gave the wagons distance. No one accosted 
 them ; their course along the rear fringe of the army was 
 safe until the flank should be reached ; then they must 
 beware. 
 
 An hour's march through field and grove brought them 
 to the edge of a wide road, the road from Gettysburg 
 through Littlestown and Westminster to Baltimore. In 
 the front, or nearly so, the sound of fighting had become 
 clearer, but its volume was not so great. Johnson had 
 pushed on toward the Baltimore road where Meade's 
 ammunition wagons were parked, but resistance to his
 
 166 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 advance had ceased until better preparation could be 
 made, and his further advance itself had been at first 
 timid, and at length was given over through fear of the 
 unknown. At the road Squire halted, for it was blocked 
 by a body of troops hurrying to the left. In neither direc- 
 tion could Squire see the end of the column ; he turned 
 to the right : he would go down the road and cross it 
 sooner by making his own progress in a contrary course 
 bring him to the rear of the troops ; but almost at once 
 the troops halted ; then loud voices commanded a counter- 
 march, and the column faced about and marched down 
 the road at the double quick. Squire had again come to a 
 halt. 
 
 But the movement soon ceased ; the troops fronted 
 north, and were allowed to be at ease in line, however, 
 and with musket in hand. 
 
 The night was going ; the moon had almost reached 
 the zenith ; within the next four hours Squire must suc- 
 ceed or fail ; here was an impassable wall, its length un- 
 known, perhaps impossible to flank. The negro was 
 puzzled ; by waiting he might at any time see the road 
 become free of troops ; to the contrary he might wait in- 
 definitely by going to the left he would be going into 
 the battle lines at the extreme front ; by trying the right 
 he would be getting farther from his object ; he knew not 
 what to do. In his dilemma, Squire refused to consult ; 
 he had found Barney lacking in fixed purpose and weak in 
 suggestion ; he must decide himself, and he decided upon 
 movement. 
 
 They crossed roads and small streams, and a creek
 
 THE MEETING 167 
 
 where they had great difficulty ; when on its eastern bank 
 they rested and slept. Before sunrise they set out again, 
 now northward, avoiding the fields ; when the openings 
 were large, they sought the hollows or crept along fence 
 rows. About nine o'clock they stopped on the edge of a 
 cultivated valley into which a wooded ridge projected at 
 its farther side, with a great barn over there near the woods 
 almost half a mile away. At the east the fields stretched 
 too far, but looking northwest for a way of approach 
 Squire saw a crooked line of small growth starting near 
 the buildings, curving about in its sunken course, and 
 growing wider and taller as it crossed the open. 
 
 Squire pointed. "Dat's de way. Dat dah's de spring 
 branch dat comes f'om de spring ; dat's dess de way de 
 spring branches does away back in ole Fihginny. I 
 b'lieve I kin mos' see de spring up yandeh. Come awn, 
 Bahney. Le's git down in de branch ; den we kin go ahaid 
 an' git acrawst. An' we's a-gwine to have some fallin' 
 weatheh, too ; don't shu heah dat raincrow ? An' hit's 
 Friday, too." Meanwhile, he had turned ; Barney fol- 
 lowed, and still in the edge of the woods the two went 
 down the hill to the left, and then up the stream, creeping 
 through the fringe of bushes that grew on the west border 
 of Rummel's spring branch, and had made half the dis- 
 tance across the open when a shell shrieked above their 
 heads, and then another, and another. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The morning of the 3d was hot and dry. At a far dis- 
 tance in the southwest Armstrong could see Round Top, 
 opposite Longstreet's right, and all along Meade's line,
 
 168 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 curving like a fish-hook, and all along Lee's lines enfold- 
 ing, he could hear the boom of cannon, mingled, near by, 
 with the ring of the sharp-shooter's rifle. Yet there came 
 no volleying musketry from the dense lines of infantry 
 on either ridge. Lee was holding and massing, in prepara- 
 tion for attack on Meade's centre. 
 
 General Stuart had connected with Lee's left on the 
 2d ; on the morning of the 3d he moved farther to the 
 left, making eastward toward Hanover, that, in case Lee's 
 assaults should prove successful, the cavalry could seize 
 the roads by which the Federals would be forced to with- 
 draw, and turn the retreat into rout. 
 
 Stuart marched on the York road ; two miles east of 
 Gettysburg his column filed right, and moved toward the 
 rear of Meade's army, keeping in the forest in order to 
 avoid observation by the enemy. At ten o'clock there 
 was a halt. The head of Jenkins's brigade had reached 
 a sort of wooded promontory that overlooked a wide, 
 open stretch to the south and east. Behind Jenkins was 
 Chambliss, commanding W. H. F. Lee's brigade; then, 
 with an interval, came Hampton, and, after Hampton, 
 Fitz Lee a formidable body in all, if the organizations 
 had been full, but most of the regiments were little larger 
 than original companies. One of the batteries had by 
 some mischance supplied itself with defective shells, and 
 some of the battalions were short of cartridges. The 
 ridge on which the column had halted faces another and 
 parallel range of wooded hills at the south, where nothing 
 could be seen ; a gentle valley between, crossed by fences 
 here and there, and checkered with yellow wheat and
 
 THE MEETING 169 
 
 green corn, while the prominent feature of the interval 
 was Rummel's great barn, distant some two or three hun- 
 dred yards from the edge of the wood in which Stuart 
 formed his line, the right of which held the promontory 
 the termination of the wooded hills. Here Stuart 
 himself halted, and with his glass searched the surround- 
 ing fields and groves for indications of the enemy's pres- 
 ence; then he ordered Jackson's battery to fire three 
 shots, possibly a signal to Lee that the cavalry was in 
 position. 
 
 At the moment of the first discharge the two negroes 
 had fallen flat. 
 
 " Lawdy, Unc Squiah, how is we gwine to git out o' 
 heah ? " asked Barney, for the moment showing great 
 fear. 
 
 "I dunno who dey is, chile. Ef I knowed dey wus 
 ouah folks, I'd dess go awn up to 'em ; but we dunno who 
 dey is, an' we got to stay right down heah tell we know 
 who dey is." 
 
 Barney's terror soon gave place to reasonable apprehen- 
 sion ; the low spot to which they clung was defended on 
 all sides but one by higher ground, the only view being 
 almost directly north toward Rummel's barn. He raised 
 himself to look. 
 
 " I see 'em," he said. " Dey's a-comin'," and when 
 old Squire got to his feet, and parted the bushes, he too 
 saw a line of skirmishers advancing from the woods. 
 
 The troops which the negroes saw marching toward 
 Rummel's barn were the Thirty -fourth Virginia battalion 
 under Colonel Witcher; they passed the barn, and, in
 
 170 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 orderly alignment, took position behind a rail fence, their 
 right flank some three hundred yards from Squire's posi- 
 tion, too far to tell whether they were friends. 
 
 " Dey may be ouah folks, Unc Squiah," Barney said, 
 " an' den ag'in dey may be de Yankees. Anyhow, dey's 
 not cavalry. I b'lieve dey's got long guns ; dem ain't no 
 cahbines. Dah, now ! I see some of 'em a-loadin' ; dey's 
 got long guns." 
 
 " Dat don't alluz count, Bahney. Some o' ouah calvry 
 totes long guns." And, in fact, the troops they saw 
 were armed with Enfields. 
 
 The negroes hugged the hollow of the spring branch ; to 
 ascend either hill at left or right would expose them ; 
 to go forward would be going into wrong lines perhaps ; 
 to go back was still less to be thought of, for they had 
 already heard at their right rear many sounds which they 
 knew were made by troops taking position. 
 
 Opposite Stuart was Macintosh's brigade, which the 
 Confederate signals had warned to prepare for action. 
 No sooner had the Virginians aligned along the fence 
 than a shell screamed over and into the woods behind 
 them. Jackson, unlimbered near the extreme right, 
 replied, and drew the fire of the Federal batteries a 
 most destructive fire that speedily silenced the Confed- 
 erate guns. As yet, the Confederates had seen no enemy, 
 except far away and indistinctly; but now there came 
 from the opposite woods and on down the slope a line of 
 dismounted men, the First New Jersey advancing, and 
 skirmishing began. Even yet old Squire knew not which 
 side of the field to seek. He saw the Federal skirmishers
 
 THE MEETING 171 
 
 advance, but skirmishers usually carry no flag, and he 
 was unable to tell that they were Federals. The contest 
 continued, the two lines facing each other, the negroes' 
 position being three hundred yards to the west of the 
 interval. 
 
 Three miles to the southwest a tempest was roaring ; 
 the great cannonade of Gettysburg preliminary to the 
 charge of Pickett and Pettigrew had begun, and the hostile 
 cavalry here on the flank nerved themselves for the strife 
 the Federals to prevent Stuart from turning them, their 
 enemies to seize the road in Meade's rear. Part of the 
 Third Pennsylvania reenforced the skirmishers, extending 
 their left, which almost reached the branch, yet was hidden 
 from Squire by irregular ground. The firing was rapid 
 on the hill at the negroes' right. 
 
 The Federal skirmishers had almost spent their car- 
 tridges ; the Fifth Michigan was ordered to advance and 
 relieve them. The change was not made, for the old line 
 was tempted to retire too early, and the Confederates, 
 seizing the opportunity, pushed on with loud shouts, 
 driving the Union skirmishers. 
 
 And then old Squire knew that the force at the north 
 was Confederate, and that at the south Federal ; he knew 
 by the sound of the yelling. 
 
 " Bahney, come right awn now ; dem's ouah folks right 
 up dah in de woods beyant dem houses." 
 
 The negroes had made but a few paces forward through 
 the bushes, when there came a great change in the nature 
 of the fight. General Gregg having arrived upon the field, 
 with Custer's Michigan brigade, had at once determined
 
 172 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 to take the offensive ; but even while he was giving orders 
 to Ouster, a regiment of gray horsemen moved out from 
 the east of Rummel's and came sweeping down the open. 
 This was the First Virginia, and could be seen by the 
 negroes before it reached the level. At once the Seventh 
 Michigan charged, almost from Squire's rear, its left 
 storming by within pistol shot, its whole length rolling 
 toward the Confederate skirmishers, who had withdrawn 
 to their first position behind the rail fence. 
 
 Footmen well posted are not afraid of cavalry. The 
 Southerners, moreover, counted on two delays in the ad- 
 vance of their enemy, for two fences were in the front, and 
 they held their ground, expecting to see the Federal cavalry 
 broken by cannon ; but at neither fence was the halt pro- 
 longed or the integrity of the ranks seriously impaired. 
 Men dismounted, threw off the top rails, and remounted 
 in the rear as their comrades passed the obstructions. 
 The skirmishers must run or be taken. 
 
 But the flank of the blue horsemen's line began to 
 waver. Off at the east the Virginians were coming, ready 
 to strike and roll up the Federal right when it should have 
 advanced sufficiently far. 
 
 And to the south of the barn the Federals were stirring 
 a long line of horse moving forward from Gregg's left. 
 
 The charge upon the skirmishers fell promptly, but not 
 on all the line, the right of the Federals hesitating, and at 
 length refusing to expose its flank to the Confederate 
 cavalry. Horsemen were riding through the skirmish 
 line, striking with sabre, firing close shots with pistol, 
 making prisoners of men afoot, yet losing constantly from
 
 THE MEETING 173 
 
 the fire of cannon, from the fire of the rear line in the 
 woods, and from that of the survivors among the Virgin- 
 ians, who retreated firing. Disorganization in the Federal 
 cavalry was certain ; it had come, and then the gray line 
 at the east came thundering athwart the field. 
 
 From their sheltered hiding-place, Squire and Barney had 
 watched intermittently all of the fight that could be seen. 
 They had at length been able to tell the Confederate lines 
 which surged forth and back, and to know the artillery at 
 the north from that at the southeast. 
 
 But rolling ground intervened here and there, and even 
 when an entire regiment might else have been in their 
 sight, the dust and smoke made clear vision impossible. 
 They had become so wrought up by excitement, that they 
 had failed to watch toward their rear, where Ouster had 
 posted the Sixth Michigan, and the first that Squire learned 
 of this regiment's advance was to find himself almost sur- 
 rounded by blue skirmishers afoot who were moving up 
 and across the branch. He dropped to the ground and 
 pulled at Barney's leg, but he was too late. 
 
 " Hello ! What are you niggers doing here ? " shouted 
 the nearest soldier. 
 
 The line was passing, moving toward the northwest, 
 the men parting the bushes and speaking loudly to each 
 other, that they might preserve rank as nearly as possible 
 in the midst of the thicket. 
 
 " 'Tain't nobody but me, Mahsta ; I dess be'n a-layin' 
 down heah to keep f'om gittin' kilt." 
 
 The line passed beyond the branch some forty yards, 
 and halted in position facing northwest just at the edge
 
 174 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 of the thicket, ready for the enemy if they should move 
 upon them from that direction. 
 
 And then Squire heard other noises ; clanking squad- 
 rons rode up from the south and halted in line at the east 
 of the branch, no doubt the main body from which the 
 dismounted skirmishers had just advanced ; and other, 
 louder, and more confused noises Squire hears, farther 
 away, where the great contest rages. Gregg hurls a re- 
 serve squadron of the Third Pennsylvania against the 
 Virginians, who at this moment are sweeping the field ; 
 but another gray line comes out from the northeast, a line 
 led by Hampton and himself waving the colour. There 
 is clash of sabres, with pistol-shot replying to blow of 
 steel, while the cannon throw their shells, striking friend 
 and foe. The fields are alive with moving men : here a 
 group scampering in flight, there, a mass commingled, 
 horses rearing, swords uplifted, smoke and dust ; here 
 the Confederates giving ground, there the blue cavalry 
 outnumbered and fleeing ; at the barn windows a few 
 skirmishers still hold, firing rapidly. Either side takes 
 prisoners, either side as it recedes leaves blotches on the 
 ground dark spots only, but that writhe awhile and 
 then cease to writhe. Everywhere there are horses rid- 
 erless, some of them mad with pain, stumbling on three 
 legs, or on two, others with tails horizontal and manes 
 floating, go storming into wrong lines, or race in front 
 with stirrups whipping their sides. Shock succeeds 
 shock ; right and left the battle swells, up in the open 
 field, between the reserve lines north and south, while 
 Stuart's batteries work upon the cavalry moving on his
 
 THE MEETING 175 
 
 right, the Michigan regiments under Custer, whose squad- 
 rons are touching the fringe of bushes where the two 
 negroes lie. 
 
 ******* 
 Even after the main battle had ended by the with- 
 drawal of the Confederates to the position which they had 
 occupied before advancing, Squire and Barney held to the 
 thicket ; movement toward the northeast over the field 
 would have placed them in double peril from the opposing 
 sharp-shooters still seeking targets, while any attempt to 
 make progress northward would have been detected and 
 stopped by the skirmishers who lined the west margin of 
 the bushy flat. Indeed, these skirmishers, who through 
 intense expectation of becoming engaged, had troubled 
 them little, might at any moment destroy their hopes, and 
 Squire looked about for a spot in which he could be hid- 
 den from view until nightfall. Worming their way along 
 the ground, the two succeeded in crossing to the east of 
 the branch, and thus placed the whole width of the strip 
 of bushes between themselves and those whose observa- 
 tion they avoided ; then they lay close to earth, fearing 
 not only to rise but even to speak. The sky was cloud- 
 less ; the moon would rise a little after nine ; brief ob- 
 scurity would be given them for protection in their 
 advance toward the Confederate lines. Squire communi- 
 cated with his companion by signs, and Barney, now fully 
 receptive, understood. The skirmishers, at their left 
 some sixty yards, were motionless in their places ; far at 
 the front and far at the rear there was the hubbub of 
 movement groups and detachments disorganized by the
 
 176 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 fight, shouting and riding hither and yon, seeking to re- 
 store their scattered lines but at length all noises ceased, 
 save that from the field so recently given to the clamour 
 of battle the old man imagined the groans of the wounded 
 breaking the silence of twilight. 
 
 The time had come. Squire whispered to Barney and 
 crawled to his right oblique, parting the bushes with care ; at 
 their limit he looked long up the hill. The skirmishers' 
 backs were toward him, and he knew that once on the rise the 
 growing wheat would serve as a screen; he crept on, encour- 
 aged. At length, just as he was at the top, a great shout 
 arose at his left rear, the shout of some skirmisher of the 
 hitherto silent line, caused by no telling what, but sounding 
 to the old man like the crack of doom ... he rose and fled. 
 
 But only for a moment did he thus expose himself. 
 Twenty yards passed over, the brow of the hill hid him 
 from the left, and he dropped flat in the wheat to evade 
 detection from his rear. Barney had followed closely. 
 
 When the short darkness came, which was not complete, 
 for the coming moon already faintly silvered the east, they 
 rose, and made more rapid progress straight toward the 
 great barn ; but after a little, hearing voices at the front, 
 Squire dropped again and crawled toward the east through 
 the wheat. 
 
 The old man was making his way slowly, pausing now 
 and then to raise his head and look. 
 
 "Unc Squiah." 
 
 " Wat de matteh, chile ? " He had stopped, and 
 turned his head. 
 
 " Didn't shu heah some'h'm ? "
 
 THE MEETING 177 
 
 " No," and the old man turned again to go on ; but he 
 did not go on ; his hand had come down on something 
 soft something that felt unlike wheat, or grass, or earth, 
 but smooth, nevertheless, and cold. Though his hand had 
 been snatched away on the instant, he still felt the cold 
 thing whose momentary contact had checked the beating 
 of his heart. He knew at once that he had placed his 
 hand on the face of a dead soldier. 
 
 "Why you don't go awn, Unc Squiah?" whispered 
 the younger man, seeing no cause for the delay. 
 
 Perhaps there is none, who, such an incident coming 
 into his experience, would have regarded it as trivial ; to 
 Squire the event was enormous. All men are supersti- 
 tious ; the negro is superstition. When Squire touched 
 the dead man's face, strength left him. In his crude be- 
 lief an omen of utter misfortune had been shown his 
 very life was forfeit, and dismay had so unnerved him 
 that for an instant he was not able to reply to Barney, 
 who again spoke, urging him to go on. 
 
 " Fah you well, Judy," the old man at length muttered; 
 "fahwell, Mahs Chahley ; fahwell, ole Mahsta and eve'y- 
 body ; ole Squiah done got his call ; Lawd, do please foh- 
 give dis mis'ble ole sinneh feh all w'at he done wrong." 
 
 " What de matteh with you, Unc Squiah ? Why you 
 don't go awn?" 
 
 "Bahney, chile, you go awn ahaid now. I done be'n 
 whah I can't see de light no mo'e ; you go ahaid." 
 
 Barney ranged alongside. "What dat dah thing awn 
 de groun' ? "
 
 178 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Somebody." 
 
 The dead man's face was toward them, his length 
 stretched in the wheat. 
 
 " Which side he was awn ? " 
 
 "I dunno, Bahney." 
 
 " What de matteh with you, Unc Squiah ? What make 
 you so change ? You feahed o' dead man ? " 
 
 " Dat man he so cole." 
 
 " You done totch him, den ? Oh, my Godamighty, Unc 
 Squiah ! " 
 
 For a full minute neither spoke, each absorbed. 
 *#**** 
 
 " I'm a-gwine th'ough him," said Barney at length. 
 "He's a Yankee, an' he's got some'h'm." 
 
 The old negro made no protest, and the younger man, 
 horrified the previous moment to learn that his companion 
 had incurred disaster by touching the body, proceeded to 
 rifle it ; but then every one knows the difference between 
 desecrating a corpse through inadvertence and doing it 
 for a purpose. What Barney found he put into his own 
 pockets, telling the old man nothing ; but his booty must 
 have been encouraging, for at once he rose cautiously and 
 looked about him, and then began to move away, saying, 
 " Don't go 'way, Unc Squiah ; I gwine to be back in a 
 minute ; dah's anotheh." 
 
 Now Squire followed Barney ; the old man could not 
 bear to be alone with the ghastly object which had brought 
 him calamity ; he found his companion bending over 
 another of the fallen.
 
 THE MEETING 179 
 
 ** Dis ain't no Yankee," said Barney ; " he ain't got 
 nothin' ; I ain't a-gwine to tetch him." He straightened 
 to his full height and looked about. Objects, small and 
 large, spotted the trodden wheat ; the large ones were 
 horses. 
 
 Barney moved on ; he wanted more prey. 
 
 " Stop," said Squire ; " who dem a-comin' yandeh ? " 
 
 Some fifty yards in the front, two men were moving 
 about ; with their eyes just above the level of the wheat 
 the negroes watched ; the two men became invisible ; they 
 had stooped in the wheat. 
 
 " I 'xpec' dey's a-gwine to git it all," Barney grumbled. 
 
 A minute passed and the two soldiers rose to their feet. 
 They seemed to struggle with some object between them ; 
 they moved away slowly, going toward the Confederate 
 lines. 
 
 " Come awn," said Squire ; " dem's ouah men ; dey's 
 a-gittin' up de wounded men ; we's all right now," a true 
 joy bringing the first little relief from his fear of por- 
 tended death ; but as he put his foot forward he heard a 
 groan and stopped. 
 
 " Unc Squiah, jest wait a little bit ; I be with you in 
 one minute." 
 
 "I gwine to see who dat is," said Squire, willing to 
 grant delay. 
 
 While the old man, directed by repeated groans, went 
 straight forward, cautiously, however, lest he tread upon 
 some hidden horror, Barney made to the right and bent 
 over the body of a Federal officer. He turned the pockets 
 and rose.
 
 180 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Bahney! Bahney!" 
 
 The tones were loud and startling, making the young 
 man shake with fear. 
 
 " Bahney ! Bahney ! " again the loud words rang, filling 
 him with terror ; front and rear specks of light flashed 
 out, as the skirmishers fired across the wheat at the 
 noises. He dropped to his knees and crawled toward 
 Squire, who continued to shout : 
 
 " Come quick, Bahney I Hit's my young mahsta ! "
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 
 
 " Why, then, lead on. 0, that a man might know 
 The end of this day's business ere it come 1 " 
 
 SUAKESPEAHB. 
 
 SEVENTEEN miles, General Imboden tells us, was the 
 length of the trains and escort which the Confederate 
 chieftain on the 4th ordered back to Williamsport. In 
 one of the many wagons filled with wounded, Charles 
 Armstrong lay, uttering groans that went to the heart of 
 old Squire, who trudged along in the rainy night, refusing 
 to leave his master whom he had saved from captivity if 
 not from death. The old negro was alone, for Barney 
 had found it convenient to make some temporary business 
 arrangement which demanded that he follow Jenkins's 
 brigade, and Squire felt distress that was not unmixed 
 with relief. Mahs Chahley was more than enough on his 
 hands without having to take charge of another incapable. 
 
 The road was rough, the night was black, rain fell in 
 sheets, but the wagons were urged on desperately all 
 through the black night old Squire walked behind the 
 wagon; where they were going he knew not; that the 
 Eighteenth Virginia led the advance, that the train was 
 
 181
 
 182 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 as long as a county, that Mahs Dan and his friends were 
 in the rear with Fitz Lee's brigade, the old man knew 
 not he only knew that Mahs Chahley was in the wagon. 
 
 Before getting well started Squire went to a barnyard 
 near by and boldly seized a great armful of hay, with 
 which he made Armstrong's condition a little less intoler- 
 able ; and at halts on the encumbered road he brought 
 water, and worked in every way to lessen his master's dis- 
 tress ; yet the considerable halts were few ; the wagon 
 would go a long distance bumping over stones and washes, 
 rolling the wounded about and against one another ; then 
 after an instant's halt it would jerk forward, causing cries 
 and moans, curses and prayers ; and at sudden slopes 
 would lurch heavily, and wring a wail in which no voice 
 could be distinguished. Seventeen miles of human 
 agony. 
 
 Barney had attached himself to an officer of the Thirty- 
 fourth battalion, who had met the negroes as they were 
 bearing Charles Armstrong from the field of battle, and 
 had followed the part of Stuart's command which marched 
 by Emmitsburg across the mountains. He foraged and 
 found himself cut off by the Federals who were vigorously 
 attacking Swell's wagon trains ; but the negro gave them 
 great margin, fearing to be questioned closely. He went 
 westward, toward Hagerstown, hearing the sounds of 
 artillery in many directions. 
 
 July 6 Stuart moved upon Hagerstown. The great 
 trains had reached Williamsport, the point selected for 
 crossing the Potomac ; but there was no bridge, and the 
 ford was impracticable from high water. Imboden looked
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 183 
 
 after the defences, for the position might suddenly become 
 perilous. The rear-guard was not yet up. 
 
 The Federal cavalry division under Buford marched 
 from Frederick upon Williamsport, that under Kilpatrick 
 from Boonsboro upon Hagerstown. There were bright 
 skies and highest hopes ; no great numbers of the enemy 
 could well be at Hagerstown ; it was reported that Lee's 
 army was making for the ford at Williamsport by the 
 way of Greencastle, for General French had already 
 destroyed the Confederate pontoon bridge at Falling 
 Waters. The men were buoyant, full of pride in the great 
 victory over Lee's army, and responded quickly to every 
 demand upon strength and courage. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Barney was resting ; his mind was not fully made up ; 
 whether to go on westward, to strike south at once for 
 Virginia, to engage again with some Federal officer, were 
 disturbing questions. He was not satisfied with his 
 present way of living ; alone, his courage failed him ; 
 with another to lead, he could follow. Squire had cor- 
 rectly read the young negro, who, even at this moment, 
 was thinking of the old man's urgent advice to remain 
 faithful to his Southern home. 
 
 Barney fell asleep, and his awakening was rude ; he 
 heard loud voices almost above him. 
 
 " Now, will ye belave me, Misther Hawley ? And will 
 ye give me the credit for the taking of 'm ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes," says Hawley ; " but how do you know what 
 he is?" 
 
 " He's a ribel's naygur, he is ; anny wan can tell it by
 
 184 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 his skin ; it nades graise, and the insoides of 'm no 
 less." 
 
 Barney's eyes were still almost closed, and the men 
 were standing outside of his line of imperfect vision, but 
 the voices were perfectly familiar. 
 
 " Wake up ! " cried Hawley, punching the negro with 
 his foot. 
 
 With a jerk, Barney sat up, and looked about, pretend- 
 ing confusion. On either side stood a blue soldier, 
 Hawley afoot, holding his bridle, O'Donnell mounted. 
 
 "Ho, bedad ! And if it's not Barney, then it's his 
 brother ! " 
 
 " Yes, sah. Howdy, Mist' O'Donnell. Howdy, Misteh 
 Hawley." 
 
 " And tell the blissed truth and shame the divil now, 
 dam ye ! D'ye belong to the ribels ? " 
 
 " Who, me ? Now, Mist' O'Donnell, you ain't done 
 pokin' yo' fun yet ? How come you think I done go 
 back on you all ? Don't shu know dat I stuck to you all 
 jest as long as de cap'm staid ? " 
 
 " Say, O'Donnell, we've got no time to be fooling here. 
 The best thing to do is for one of us to take him back to 
 the captain." 
 
 " Roight ye are, me b'y. Come, Barney, gettup, and 
 marrch before me, and ye'll soon see that same captain 
 that ye loike so well." 
 
 " And you get back here dam quick, O'Donnell," said 
 Hawley. " This place is not as safe as an ironclad ; the 
 Johnnies are not half a mile off." 
 
 If Barney felt any distress at being thus haled before
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 185 
 
 his old protector, he was careful not to show it, and 
 marched in O'Donnell's front without objecting ; indeed, 
 the negro hoped to end suspense by finding favour with 
 Captain Freeman, who had treated him kindly, and whose 
 service he was not disinclined to undertake again. 
 
 A quarter of a mile at the rear of the vedette post, 
 near which Barney had been sleeping, Freeman's company 
 was found drawn up as mounted skirmishers, and O'Don- 
 nell at once conducted his prisoner to the captain. 
 
 " Wan more for O'Donnell, sor, if ye plaise ; the 
 siventainth for the waik." 
 
 " You want to count this man a grayback ? " said Free- 
 man, laughing, and not yet having recognized his former 
 servant ; then, looking more closely, he cried : 
 
 " Why, my Lord, man, what are you doing here ? " 
 
 " Cap'm, I jest ain't quit a-wonderin' ef dat izh you, 
 sho' nuff. I'm so glad to see you, sah. You done got 
 well?" 
 
 " Yes. Where have you been, Barney ? " 
 
 " Cap'm, I've jest be'n a-runnin' 'roun' loose mos' eveh 
 sence you done lef me. I've had a hahd time, sho'." 
 
 " But how did you get here ? " Freeman was some- 
 what suspicious, simply because he knew that the ground 
 had very recently been occupied by the rebels. 
 
 " I got los' in de woods way back yondeh las' night, 
 sah, an' I jest kep' awn a-gwine, 'caze I was afeahed all 
 de time dat I run up awn de wrong folks, sah an' I did 
 run up awn 'em, sah." 
 
 " Who do you serve now ? " 
 
 The question was a poser. Barney knew names enough,
 
 186 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 but he dreaded consequences ; any officer whose name he 
 should give might afterward be consulted by Freeman, 
 whom, though willing to serve, he feared greatly. 
 
 "De las' man I tuck up with was with de baggage 
 waggins, sah, Misteh Dodson," giving the truth, so 
 far as it went, " but I done got cut off f 'om de waggins, 
 an' I jest didn't know whah to go, sah ; an' las' night I 
 got in a crowd o' de wrong folks, Cap'm, but I got away 
 dis mawnin'." 
 
 A bugle was heard somewhere in the rear. Freeman 
 ordered an advance. 
 
 " Well, Barney," said he, " I'd take care of you if you 
 could keep up with us, but I can't wait for you. What 
 are you going to do ? " 
 
 " If I jest knowed whah yo' waggin's a-gwine to be at, 
 I'd go to it, sah." 
 
 " Well, make your way to Hagerstown," said Freeman, 
 pointing, and then marched on. 
 
 Stuart's two brigades under Chambliss and Robertson, 
 the two not greater than a full regiment, marched from 
 Leitersburg and occupied Hagerstown. Kilpatrick's first 
 brigade, under Colonel Richmond, reached Hagerstown 
 from Boonsboro, and drove the Confederates to the pro- 
 tection of Iverson's infantry brigade, which held the 
 northern side of the town. Stuart himself was coming 
 westward from Chewsville, and Kilpatrick's main body 
 was coming into the town from Boonsboro. 
 
 Kilpatrick's advance had thus intervened between Stuart 
 and Williamsport ; and beyond Kilpatrick the rebel com- 
 mander could hear Buford's guns thundering upon Imbo-
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 187 
 
 den, who, in awful suspense, Fitz Lee's brigade miles in 
 the rear, called into momentary service his teamsters, the 
 convalescents among the wounded, all men who could 
 make a show, and as pretence of strength marched them 
 up and down in sight of his enemy. 
 
 Stuart attacked and broke through Kilpatrick's advance, 
 and passed on ; but the Federal main body now had its 
 say ; there was bloody encounter in the streets, charge 
 and countercharge, both sides fighting with almost unex- 
 ampled stubbornness. Squadron after squadron charged, 
 and dead and wounded littered the carriage ways and 
 sidewalks. Captain Snyder was picked up dead, Captain 
 Chauncey was fearfully wounded, and Dahlgren was 
 found fainting from a smashed foot the three officers 
 falling in the last daring charge. 
 
 Meanwhile, Kilpatrick was swinging his flank across the 
 Williamsport road. Behind the hills at Williamsport, old 
 Squire could hear fighting east, northeast, and north, while 
 the head of Fitzhugh Lee's brigade, forcing the march on 
 Williamsport, could hear the same sounds southeast and 
 east. Imboden was sorely pressed ; he longed for Fitz 
 Lee as Napoleon for Grouchy and, unlike Grouchy, Fitz 
 Lee came. 
 
 Half a mile to the left of Lee's column, eight picked 
 men, Morgan the foremost, rode at long intervals, cover- 
 ing the east of the whole brigade. The march of these 
 men was very rapid, for the leader had only his judgment 
 to rely upon, and his orders required him to keep at least 
 three-quarters of a mile to the left oblique of the head of 
 the column, which he was told would move at the rate of
 
 188 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 five miles an hour. Woods intervened here and there, 
 and hills, so that the sergeant could not positively know 
 at all times that he was preserving good distance ; as for 
 the men in his rear, all each had to do was to keep his 
 leader in sight and watch toward the east, toward Hagers- 
 town, where the fight between Stuart and Kilpatrick 
 threatened again to become battle. Dusk was gather- 
 ing, and still they rode with great intervals, each seeing 
 the form of his leader more indistinctly, Morgan guessing 
 his way, almost unconsciously increasing his speed, and 
 sheering gradually toward his left, for at the west in open 
 ground he saw a dark moving body which could be no 
 other than the head of Fitz Lee's column, and he feared 
 that his own march had been slower than his duty re- 
 quired. But soon his fear was changed, for the moving 
 objects were nearer, and he began to think that the brigade 
 had left the main road and was marching southeastward. 
 He deflected yet more ; for a few hundred yards he rode 
 almost at the top of his poor horse's speed, a hill shutting 
 from view the marching column; and when again he 
 reached level ground he was astounded to see the column 
 almost within a stone's throw at his right and to know that 
 it was moving squarely eastward . . . and a column no 
 longer, but a body of mounted troops marching in line. 
 Morgan halted ; any further advance on his part would 
 have put him in easy speaking distance of these troops 
 which now he feared were not Lee's. He turned in his 
 saddle to see if possible how far northward the line ex- 
 tended, and as he turned he struck his spurs deep, and 
 pulled bridle eastward, for he saw himself almost sur-
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 189 
 
 rounded by enemies, many of them already cutting in 
 between him and Sency, his nearest follower. It was a 
 vicious chase. " Halt ! " " Halt ! " " Halt ! " came 
 from three sides, as his horse made the first bound ; and, 
 at the second, shots were fired, and then loud shouts and 
 many thundering hoofs sounded in his rear. 
 
 Morgan was not a light-weight, but what he didn't 
 know about riding is not worth knowing, and all that he 
 feared beyond a stray bullet was the condition of his 
 already overworked horse. As luck would have it, the 
 ground was good, a narrow road, but firm, and, knowing 
 that if by a sudden spurt he could outreach the vision 
 of his pursuers he would change long doubt into quick 
 success, he bent forward and urged his tired beast to do 
 his uttermost at once, and for a hundred yards the re- 
 sponse was generous, the mud flew from under the 
 horse's hoofs, and the sergeant believed he should escape ; 
 but he could still hear the pursuers coming, many of 
 them it seemed by the noises, and he soon felt the speed 
 of his horse begin to slacken. Every moment was in- 
 valuable : rapidly increasing darkness in his favour, 
 rapidly decreasing strength against him, he knew that in 
 the time it takes one to count a hundred his fate must 
 be decided. Oh, for a descending slope, a long descent, 
 where the opposing hills would shut his form below the 
 sky line ! But even as he thought the wish, the ground 
 in front began to rise and place him above his enemies. 
 He looked to the right there the same condition ; then 
 to the left, and he turned, for there he saw better chance, 
 though he knew that the very divergence had almost
 
 190 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 destroyed his hopes, for he was compelled to bear away 
 from the Potomac, whereas, before, he had been fleeing 
 from the enemy's extreme right flank retiring (for it 
 was Buford's men that had cut him off), and he felt ne- 
 cessity so urgent that he dropped his carbine to lighten 
 weight, and even started to throw away sabre and pistols ; 
 but saw that he had not time, as his horse was even now 
 sinking. Yet, although in this dire strait, Morgan 
 was not utterly resourceless. He pulled rein, sprang to 
 the ground, drew his sabre, gave the almost exhausted 
 animal a blow which goaded it to fresh if momentary ex- 
 ertion, and as the horse galloped forward again, the man 
 slunk to the left through weeds and briers, and then lay 
 flat, while many horsemen passed. 
 
 Still he was very far from safety : would not the enemy 
 soon return upon their tracks ? He thought not ; no 
 doubt his horse, left to the influence of weariness alone, 
 would be overtaken almost instantly ; yet the enemy 
 had too serious business on hand to allow such scattering 
 as would be necessary for search in all directions ; he 
 would wait until reasonably sure that no laggard was 
 still to come, and then he would try to make his way 
 westward. The night was as dark as it would ever get 
 to be ; the moon would not rise until after ten ; he had 
 two good hours of obscurity. How far he had ridden 
 out of his course he knew not ; indeed, at the beginning 
 he had been ignorant of his position, and now he knew 
 nothing beyond the fact that the west was in the hands 
 of the Confederate cavalry, and the east in those of the 
 Federals. He had crossed fields and roads in his head-
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 191 
 
 long flight, not more than a mile he thought, or two 
 miles at the most, yet he was in grave fear that his 
 march to the rear of the enemy's right flank had been 
 caused more by his own error of direction than by their 
 swinging northward ; and if this fear was based on 
 truth, then there was no telling what distance separated 
 him from his friends. Yet he must act, and after a few 
 moments, hearing nothing in the rear, he rose and walked 
 rapidly away. 
 
 Kilpatrick, reaching the Williamsport pike, marched 
 the brigades of Custer and Huey down that road to con- 
 nect with Buford's right and overwhelm Imboden, while 
 Richmond's brigade should hold Stuart in check at 
 Hagerstown. Stuart cared nothing for Hagerstown ; he 
 knew that Lee's infantry in a few hours would be there 
 in position ; what he wanted was to break through Kil- 
 patrick and relieve Imboden. At sunset he charged and 
 drove Richmond's brigade toward Williamsport. Now 
 Kilpatrick was in danger, and, receiving word that 
 Buford was withdrawing, concerned himself mostly about 
 the safety of his rear under Richmond, which would soon 
 be driven hard upon him. 
 
 Captain Freeman's company was retiring southward, 
 in tolerable order, after severe fighting in which many 
 men had been lost, the survivors preserving distance as 
 well as they could for the darkness, when Private O'Don- 
 nell raised a cry. Sergeant Dow, his file closer, moved 
 up. " What's the matter, O'Donnell ? " he called, seeing 
 the man bending over in his saddle and struggling, to 
 all appearance, with something on the ground.
 
 W2 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Hould onn there, now ! Don't ye be a-giving me 
 anny of yer tongue; Oi know what ye are. Ye're a 
 dam'd ribel, ye are ; so come along. Oi've got ye." 
 
 " Is he armed ? " asked Dow. 
 
 " Beloike he is armed, indade ; but little do Oi care 
 for that; his legs are hwat's giving me the throuble. 
 Sergeant, be plaised to give'm a lift, will ye, and Oi'll 
 put'm behoint me, so Oi will." 
 
 Morgan saw it useless to struggle, and after the first 
 unavailing attempts to evade the clutches of a single 
 opponent, submitted with all the grace he could to com- 
 bined forces. He gave O'Donnell no trouble in mount- 
 ing, and sat behind the Irishman in a way to embarrass 
 him as little as possible. 
 
 " Now that's hwat Oi call acting loike a sinsible man. 
 Be aisy, now, and kape the pace; ye'll do yerself no 
 harrm by ut." 
 
 " All right," said Morgan, willing to conciliate ; " I've 
 got nothing against you, my friend." 
 
 " And Oi wantt to tell ye that it's me number eightain 
 that ye are." 
 
 " Be kind enough to explain," said Morgan. 
 
 " Oi will ; but ut's no koindness at all, at all ; I mane 
 that the eightainth wan that Oi've put me hand on the 
 waik is named yerself." 
 
 " Oh, git out, O'Donnell," said Sergeant Dow ; " the 
 man knows you're drunk." 
 
 " And did Oi not ? Oi tell ye, and it's Dennis O'Don- 
 nell that can back up his worrd, that this gintleman 
 behoint me, and he's a-roiding so aisy and noice, he's
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 193 
 
 me number eightain, and be dam'd to iverry wan that 
 gives me the loie." 
 
 The retreat had almost ended; the sound of battle 
 was no longer heard ; the men were silent, most of them, 
 as soldiers usually are after a hard day in which honours 
 fall to the enemy, yet here and there along the ranks, 
 now formed into column, could be heard a shout of in- 
 quiry or reply. 
 
 "Nobody wants to give you the lie, O'Donnell, but 
 everybody can't quite agree to all eighteen points. You 
 still want to count Barney?" 
 
 " Oi do. Eightain of 'm and Oi'm not to be chaited 
 out of wan by the loikes of anny wan of ye." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! " roared Hawley. " Black and white, 
 all's alike to Irish. Just so he counts, he don't give 
 a dam what colour." 
 
 " And, Misther Hawley, will ye be so koind as to say 
 where me number siventain would be at this toime if 
 Oi hadn't laid me hands onn'm ? " 
 
 " Be with the rebels, maybe ; dam 'f I know where, 
 and dam 'f I care ; maybe they'd have got him and 
 maybe they wouldn't. What's that got to do with it? 
 Think they'd have made a soldier out of him ? " 
 
 "Begod, and he counts wan, Oi'm telling of ye. 
 Whin he worrks for the ribels, doesn't he kape a ribel 
 in the ranks by worrking forr'm, Oi'm telling of ye ! " 
 
 Morgan had begun to feel interest in the quarrel. 
 Hearing the word Barney had not at first kindled any 
 curiosity; he had not applied the name to any person 
 whom he knew ; but when it became evident that Bar-
 
 194 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 ney number seventeen was a negro, he began to see a 
 possibility, and when, in addition, he heard that this 
 Barney was of doubtful standing as to his adherence, 
 the prisoner suspected strongly that number seventeen 
 was none other than old Squire's mate who had helped 
 to bring Armstrong in from the battle-field at Gettysburg, 
 and concerning whom Squire had given some little his- 
 tory. And if Morgan had become alert, Hawley's next 
 sally increased his interest unto excitement. 
 
 "Yes," says Hawley, "a nigger's as good as a white 
 man any day to Irish. That old fellow Squire that we 
 had down at Rowser's a week ago, ha ! ha ! damned if 
 O'Donnell didn't say he was the biggest take the com- 
 pany had made since we was at Kelly's Ford, by 
 God ! " 
 
 " Oi did, sor, and Captain Frayman belaves it no less 
 than Oi do, sor; but Misther Hawley, bad luck to 'm, 
 he puts in his worrd that he kills the ould naygur at 
 that same Rowser's, and he takes all the proide out of 
 poor O'Donnell." 
 
 The laugh that followed this retort had the effect of 
 silencing Hawley, and the Irishman, restored to good 
 humour, never completely lost, said to Morgan in an 
 undertone : 
 
 " Don't ye be failing downhearted now be rayson of me 
 number siventain ; sure, and it's no disgrace to be wan 
 behoint wan whin that wan that ye're behoint can cause 
 so sarious a quaurr'l." 
 
 "I don't know so much about that," says Morgan. 
 "Don't seem to me you are totin' fair with me. You
 
 O'DONNELL'S PRISONERS 195 
 
 ought to count me ahead of that nigger, unless he's a 
 mighty good one." 
 
 " Sure and he's a good wan. Oi'm to show 'm to ye, 
 and ye'll be sinsible yerself that he's all roight for siven- 
 tain." 
 
 The company halted, and the men were at ease, though 
 in ranks, Captain Freeman having sent for orders. The 
 first sergeant reported one prisoner. 
 
 " Let him be sent to the provost-marshal," said Free- 
 man ; " I'll let you know when and where as soon as I 
 learn, Sergeant. Meantime, see that he is well guarded. 
 We bivouac shortly ; I've already ordered the wagon up." 
 
 Again the march was ordered ; troops ahead of Free- 
 man kept straight on for Boonsboro ; his own company 
 filed left, and after half an hour's tramp bivouacked in 
 rear of Funkstown.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 
 
 " But it sufficeth that the day will end, 
 And then the end is known. Come, ho ! away I " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 THE Irishman and his number eighteen were on the 
 ground by one of Freeman's extinct bivouac fires, Private 
 Hawley erect above them, other guards near by on their 
 blankets. O'Donnell, though not on duty, had persisted, 
 nevertheless, in holding himself near to Morgan, whom 
 he claimed as his own peculiar and labelled property ; and 
 the sergeant of the guard, hoping that complete intoxica- 
 tion would speedily bring relief to all parties interested, 
 had avoided a useless altercation which he knew would 
 have resulted in the necessity of reporting a comrade 
 for insubordination, by tacitly acknowledging the owner- 
 ship and permitting the Irishman to lie near his prisoner. 
 But O'Donnell, still feeling a certain consciousness of 
 interest in what might happen, had refrained from the 
 finishing cup ; occasionally he would throw out an arm 
 and caress Morgan's head and give grunts of gratification 
 induced by the combined influence of contrary powers 
 that over himself, and his own over another ; meanwhile, 
 that other lay motionless, but with every sense alert. 
 
 196
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 197 
 
 Barney had succeeded in reaching Freeman's wagon, 
 and, thanks to his skill as a caterer in both foraging and 
 cooking, had prepared a supper which helped to reinstate 
 him in the captain's good graces, as well as in the old 
 position of chief serving-man for the officers' mess. 
 
 "Brock," said Freeman, lighting his pipe, "I wonder 
 if that rebel that O'Donnell caught has anything to 
 eat." 
 
 " If he has, Captain, he's in better luck in that respect 
 than the rest of Lee's army, if what they say is true." 
 
 "Well, they don't tell me where to send him, and I 
 suppose we've got to feed him ourselves. Barney, take 
 him something. Sergeant Dow will show you where he 
 is, if you don't know." 
 
 Barney already knew ; he had seen Morgan under 
 guard and had recognized him, and was in terror of 
 revelation ; yet he trusted that the only time he had 
 been seen could not have sufficed for the Confederate to 
 impress feature and name upon his mind ; so, pulling his 
 hat down to hide his face as much as he dared, he 
 approached Hawley and without a word handed him the 
 food, making a gesture with his hand as much as to say 
 that the food was for the prisoner ; then he started to go 
 away. 
 
 " For the rebel, you mean ? " asked Hawley. 
 
 Barney turned and nodded. 
 
 O'Donnell had heard ; he scrambled to a sitting posture 
 and saw Barney, who had again begun to retreat silently. 
 
 "Halt ! ye dam black naygur," said O'Donnell ; "and 
 can ye not show yer manners better'n that ? Oi wantt me
 
 198 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 number eightain to see ye. Halt there, now, and come 
 back wid je." 
 
 Barney reluctantly obeyed ; the man O'Donnell was 
 important ; he might become the negro's enemy, and 
 make life a torture. 
 
 " Number eightain, yer rations is brought ye by num- 
 ber siventain, and sure ye mustn't have any more harrd 
 failings." 
 
 No doubt the prisoner had already been prepared for 
 quick recognition of Barney, whose embarrassment would 
 have been betrayed, in any case, by his reluctance to 
 approach ; yet Morgan failed to interpret the negro cor- 
 rectly, believing his conduct but natural through shame at 
 being found a turncoat from the Confederates, as it were. 
 
 " So, you are here," said the prisoner. 
 
 Barney was mute ; he stood without movement, his head 
 hanging ; he must take what should come ; at the worst, 
 nothing more could be said against him than that he had 
 helped a wounded Confederate, and his poor thought 
 was concerned only in providing excuses before Captain 
 Freeman. 
 
 " What made you leave ? " asked Morgan ; he had 
 almost said "leave Squire," but had stopped, prudence 
 telling him not to show knowledge of the old negro ; yet 
 the intonation of his interrupted closing was not unob- 
 served by Hawley, who exclaimed : " Finish your speech, 
 man. Tell what you know about this nigger." 
 
 The tone was rude ; Morgan did not like it ; more- 
 over, he considered that everything he could say posi- 
 tively would be from his own point of view favourable to
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 199 
 
 Barney, and to give such testimony with the purpose of 
 doing harm would be base. 
 
 " Why did you leave your master ? " asked Morgan. 
 
 Barney had determined to preserve obstinate silence, 
 but he felt relieved by Morgan's modified question, which 
 was entirely unimportant and might have been addressed 
 to any former slave. Fear diminishing, he reasoned that 
 it would be better, if possible, to appease Morgan, who if 
 angered might do more than retaliate. 
 
 " He's dead, sah," was the false reply. Then the negro 
 said, " I ain't neveh done you no hahm, sah, an' I ain't 
 a-gwine to do none, an' you oughtn't to be mad with me 
 jest 'caze I don't know you, and when I'm a-tryin' to do 
 de best I can." The last words bore an appeal that 
 Hawley suspected and Morgan felt, and both became to 
 all seeming indifferent, the one in order to betray no eager 
 interest that would put the speakers on notice that their 
 peculiar conduct was observed, the other because he had 
 decided to end the trivial thing and give the poor darky a 
 chance to get along in his new circumstances. But if the 
 silence that followed proved embarrassing to Barney, it 
 was felt as an insult by O'Donnell, who quickly broke in, 
 addressing Morgan : 
 
 " And have ye no more to say, now ? And the naygur 
 fading of ye ? " 
 
 " No, let him go back where he belongs," was Morgan's 
 reply, given rudely with two purposes, one to allay 
 Hawley's suspicions that Barney was an old friend to the 
 prisoner, the other to put an end to a scene that might 
 damage the negro.
 
 200 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Barney went back to the officers' bivouac, where his 
 fears yielded to a feeling of safety, and doubtless he would 
 never have dared to approach Morgan again but for an 
 incident that he had not foreseen. 
 
 Hawley's suspicions had not been entirely laid by the 
 prisoner's tone, and as soon as he was relieved he went to 
 his commander, who, as luck would have it, was found 
 alone. 
 
 " Captain," said he, touching his cap, " I'd like to say a 
 few words to you." 
 
 " Very well, Hawley, what is it ? " 
 
 "I've been seeing some strange things between that 
 nigger Barney and our prisoner, sir." 
 
 "Well?" 
 
 " I believe they know one another, sir." 
 
 "And suppose they do. What of that? Barney is 
 from Virginia, and perhaps the rebel is also." 
 
 " I shouldn't have thought very strange of it, sir, but 
 I don't see why they couldn't say so at once." 
 
 " Say what, Hawley ? " 
 
 " Say that they know one another, sir. The man spoke 
 to Barney as if he knew all about him, and then Barney 
 goes out of his way to say that he didn't know him." 
 
 " That so ? What did the prisoner say to Barney ? " 
 asked Freeman, now showing interest. 
 
 "He asked him when he left." 
 
 " When he left what ? " 
 
 " Well, sir, the thing hangs right there. When he got 
 that far, he stopped, as if he might be going to say too 
 much ; and then I spoke up, and told him to finish ; but the
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 201 
 
 rebel is a sharp one, sir, anybody can see that, and he 
 asked the darky when he left his master." 
 
 " And what do you think he was going to ask at first, 
 Hawley ? " 
 
 " I believe he was going to ask when he left the rebels 
 possibly the regiment that this man belongs to." 
 
 " I'll go see that man. Come with me. No, Hawley, you 
 stay here till I come back. "We'd better not go together," 
 and Captain Freeman, his suspicions of Barney revived, 
 walked rapidly toward the guards, muttering to himself 
 conditional threats against the negro, and entirely unob- 
 servant of a dark form gliding through the bushes at his 
 right and taking post behind a tree in earshot of the con- 
 versation that followed. 
 
 " What is your name ? " he asked Morgan. 
 
 The prisoner was prepared and replied promptly, " John 
 Berry, sir." 
 
 " I see you are a sergeant." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 "Your regiment, if you please." 
 
 " The First Virginia, sir," was the reply the action 
 was long over, and Morgan felt that he was compromising 
 no interest. 
 
 Thus far well and good, thought Freeman ; but how from 
 inquiry of a military nature to make a transition to private 
 questioning began to trouble him. He felt that he must 
 use great tact, else the sharp rebel would suspect. Even 
 now, perhaps, he was on his guard. 
 
 " Brigade ? " 
 
 " Fitzhugh Lee's."
 
 202 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The captain had gained no information by his last ques- 
 tion, for he had already known, if he had but thought of 
 it, that the said regiment was a part of the said brigade, 
 yet the reply brought helpful suggestion in regard to his 
 real purpose. 
 
 " Is General Fitzhugh Lee with his brigade ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he was this morning, at least." 
 
 " But I was told recently that he had been wounded," 
 retorted Freeman, his mind now on Squire so firmly that 
 he continued without a pause, " Say, do you know a 
 negro named Squire ? " 
 
 "Squire? No, I don't know anybody by that name, 
 and I know every nigger that follows Fitzhugh Lee's 
 brigade." Morgan gave the answer very readily. He felt 
 pretty sure that Squire's actual name could not easily have 
 reached Freeman's ears. 
 
 " And Barney ? Do you know Barney ? " asked Free- 
 man, quickly seeing his chance, as he thought, to get at 
 the kernel of his purpose without logical violence. 
 
 But Morgan was not to be caught thus ; the leap from 
 Squire to Barney was apparent in its suddenness. 
 
 The prisoner shook his head peculiarly, as though in 
 doubt. " What Barney ? " he asked. 
 
 In the rebel's manner, Freeman saw hesitation, but read 
 nothing more ; he paused a moment that he might add 
 time to the weight of his words. 
 
 " Do you know any Barney ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Morgan, promptly ; " I know more 
 than one Barney. Down in Virginia, I know a whole 
 family of 'em."
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 203 
 
 " You are talking about white people ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " The man I'm speaking of is a negro named Barney, and 
 nothing else, so far as I know." 
 
 " Who does he belong to ? " asked the prisoner. 
 
 " He is the man who brought your supper awhile ago. 
 What do you know about him ? " 
 
 Morgan was now aware that suspicion of the negro had 
 induced Freeman's visit. Simply by refusing to conceal he 
 would bring disaster upon Barney, and for a moment he 
 experienced a moral embarrassment more intense than 
 he would previously have supposed possible in connection 
 with an object ordinarily considered of paltry importance. 
 But it would not do to hesitate. To gain time for decid- 
 ing the ethical dilemma, he could only evade. 
 
 " I know that he was not very polite in his manner at 
 first," he said ; " but I don't care any more for that than for 
 a dog's barking at me. You people take our negroes and 
 set 'em free, and make fools of 'em " 
 
 " I'm not talking about that," interrupted the captain. 
 " I want to know if you ever saw Barney before to- 
 night." 
 
 " I think I have, sir. Was he not raised in Fauquier 
 County ? " 
 
 "No, in Goochland." 
 
 " Well, sir, I'm not from that county ; and if he is from 
 Goochland you know it's not easy to swear to every nig- 
 ger you meet. I'd not like to say positively that I ever 
 saw him. Anything wrong about him ? " 
 
 The captain tried to read the prisoner's face, but there
 
 204 OLD SQUIKE 
 
 was so little light that he gave it up, and, without reply- 
 ing to Morgan, went back to his place. 
 
 " I get nothing out of him, Hawley," he said ; " the fel- 
 low knows nothing, or else smells a rat and is on his 
 guard. I'm half persuaded you're right ; but what I can 
 do more I don't see." 
 
 " Captain, let me talk to Barney in your presence, if you 
 please." 
 
 "All right, call him up." 
 
 It is needless to say that Barney was ready for any 
 ordinary examination ; but armed though he was with 
 knowledge that he was suspected, he was unprepared for 
 the first words that Hawley hurled at him. 
 
 "Make a clean breast of it now, Barney." 
 
 The negro was silent, wondering, and might have be- 
 trayed himself through manifest hesitation had Hawley 
 here ended his speech instead of merely pausing. 
 
 " Own up, man. We know all about you. The rebel 
 has given you away." 
 
 " I dunno what he's got ag'in me, Misteh Hawley. I 
 ain't neveh seed him, an' I don't know him, notheh." 
 
 " Well, he knows you ; and you can't deny that you've 
 been with the rebels." 
 
 Hawley's weakening would have been evident, even 
 though the negro had been duller and unprepared ; the 
 descent from the high plane upon which he had cast his 
 first utterance was absurd in its abruptness, in its tone, 
 and in useless multiplicity of words : why wish the negro 
 to confess if he was already known to be guilty ? Per- 
 haps Barney failed to reason thus ; he felt the substance, 
 nevertheless.
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 205 
 
 " Yes, sah, I done told de cap'm dat dey cut me off an' I 
 had to git th'ough 'em de best I could ; but dey didn't 
 try to keep me, sah. Dat man, what he got to say ag'in 
 me ? Tell me what he say," and Barney looked full on 
 Captain Freeman, though the words were directed at 
 Hawley. 
 
 "Nothing against you except that he knew you, or 
 thought so," was the reply, feeble and uncertain. 
 
 To Hawley, Freeman's disgust was not less apparent 
 than was the negro's triumph ; yet the captain said merely, 
 "Go back to your place, Hawley," adding to Barney, 
 "And you to your work, sir." 
 
 Barney's victory caused him no elation. He knew that 
 henceforth Hawley would be hostile, and that Freeman's 
 suspicions, though seemingly quieted, would be renewed 
 upon the slightest provocation, and he longed for the time 
 when he could turn his back upon the Federals and upon 
 his dangerous employment. But, whatever else may be 
 said in derogation of the negro's character, ingratitude 
 cannot be urged against it, and this negro was no excep- 
 tion to the rule. He had overheard Morgan's replies to 
 Freeman, and he wished for a way to help the cap- 
 tive, or at least to show thankfulness. A way was given 
 him. 
 
 Hawley went past sleeping men and approached the 
 guard post. It was now after ten o'clock. The moon 
 had barely risen, but the sentinel's form was distinct as 
 he stood on guard over the prisoner. At this instant a 
 clatter of hoofs was heard toward the east, and near by, 
 and then voices, one of which was clearly Captain Free-
 
 206 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 man's, and Hawley paused to listen, and he was not the 
 only one that overheard. 
 
 "To Boonsboro?" 
 
 " Yes, sir, by midnight . . . how many . . . ? " 
 
 "I have only one." 
 
 " All right, sir ; we can take charge of him without 
 troubling you to send a detail. We have two other 
 prisoners." 
 
 " Very well, I'll turn him over to you . . . Hawley ! " 
 
 Hawley turned and answered the call, and began to re- 
 trace his steps. In another moment a different voice 
 called " Hawley ! " and from a different direction. He 
 knew the voice to be that of the sentinel over the prisoner ; 
 he must not stop to talk while the captain was calling. 
 But the sentinel persisted, " Hawley, haven't they come 
 to get him ? " violating military rule in his eagerness to 
 know whether he should now be rid of this encumbrance, 
 the only reason for his enforced watchfulness, and in his 
 eagerness leaning toward the man whom he wished to 
 reach with his voice. 
 
 A few moments passed and Hawley came back, leading 
 the way for three horsemen. 
 
 " You are devilish impatient, Jackson ; what do you 
 mean by hollerin' so at me ? Couldn't you wait decently 
 a minute ? Where's the sergeant ? " 
 
 The sergeant rose in his place some yards away and 
 came forward. Morgan could see him rub his eyes, and 
 saw two horsemen with another rider behind each of them, 
 and he knew that he himself was the chosen double to the 
 third.
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 207 
 
 " Sergeant," continued Hawley, " these men are to 
 take charge of the prisoner according to the captain's 
 orders." 
 
 "All right glad to hear it. Take him right now? " 
 
 " Yes," replied one of the mounted men. " Here, Frame, 
 take him up behind you." 
 
 " Get up," said the sergeant, and touched the prisoner 
 with his foot. "Give me a receipt," he added, and the 
 horseman began to write. 
 
 Morgan moved uneasily about, as though he was hardly 
 awake. O'Donnell was snoring heavily by his side. 
 
 " Get up, I say," said the sergeant in louder tones. 
 
 Morgan rose and looked about him in the stupid 
 manner of one that has been rudely and but partly awak- 
 ened. 
 
 " Johnny, you're to go with these men. . . . Jackson, 
 you're relieved." 
 
 A horseman leaned over to grasp Morgan by the arm 
 . . . Jackson was walking cheerfully away and now 
 Hawley started also . . . the sergeant had discreetly given 
 room to the horses. 
 
 " Give him a lift, Sergeant," begged the horseman, in 
 the act of bending over ; "here's your receipt." 
 
 The prisoner suddenly fell to the ground, and as sud- 
 denly rose again with the horse between himself and the 
 sergeant, having dashed under the animal's belly. In an 
 instant he was gone. 
 
 " Hell and damnation ! " cried the horseman. " Why'n't 
 you hold him ? You are responsible for this." 
 
 " Not at all," replied the sergeant, coolly and quietly ;
 
 208 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "I delivered him to you; you are the responsible party 
 not I." 
 
 " Pursue him ! " cried the horseman, almost in frenzy, 
 more perhaps because of the laugh raised by his two com- 
 panions than because of the loss itself. 
 
 "Pursue him yourself if you want anybody to pursue. 
 I'm done with it, except to report it," and the sergeant 
 walked toward Captain Freeman's place. 
 
 Morgan had not run far ; he knew too little of direc- 
 tions, for the sky was hidden by the trees above him, and 
 he must not risk running wrong ; he sank to the ground 
 and listened. 
 
 Behind him there was noise, but no great noise ; he 
 thought it came from Freeman's company ; the sounds 
 indicated preparation to march, yet there had been no 
 bugle. Soon there was another noise a low hissing 
 sound near him which at first he knew not how to 
 construe, but it grew in clearness and intensity until he 
 recognized the warning " Sh-h-h ! " prolonged and repeated. 
 But toward whom was the signal directed? Doubtless 
 footmen were searching for the fugitive, and one had 
 stopped another with the command to hearken . . . yet 
 would the sound be repeated ? Why noisily bid a com- 
 panion be silent when he is already silent ? for Morgan 
 heard no noise near him except this one persistent grow- 
 ing " Sh-h-h ! " 
 
 The fugitive wondered why the guards he was as yet 
 not more than a hundred and fifty yards from the post 
 were making no noise of pursuit or search. He could not 
 know that Freeman had received orders to march. Could
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 209 
 
 it be that he was surrounded, and that they felt so confi- 
 dent of his falling into Federal hands that they were refus- 
 ing to make needless effort ? No ; such could not be the 
 case, for if he were environed by foes, his guards would 
 shout and warn the troops around lest he slip through them 
 in the darkness. Yet, could he believe that no effort to 
 retake him was being made? that his escape had been 
 taken for granted by his enemies ? Surely not, unless 
 unless there was for him some peculiar advantage of the 
 ground, something to make the Federals despair of success 
 and with this thought Morgan raised his head as noise- 
 lessly as possible and tried to look about him, hoping rather 
 than believing that he should see near him a ravine or other 
 help that would give conclusion to his doubts. He saw a 
 man squatted less than five paces distant. 
 
 Morgan did not lower his head. He reasoned that the 
 man knew of his presence, or did not ; in either case 
 additional attempt at secrecy was without profit, in the 
 first ineffectual, in the second needless, for he knew that 
 he was well concealed already ; he looked at the man 
 squatted near a bushy tree. Again came the signal for, 
 silence and then he heard a rattling sound in the leaves 
 at his right knee, and knew that a missile had been thrown, 
 
 It was now impossible for Morgan to believe that his 
 presence was unknown, and almost equally difficult for 
 him to believe that the man before him was hostile ; 
 yet the absurdity of admitting the hope of aid at this 
 place and time was so manifest that for the moment confi- 
 dence in his own sight and hearing was shaken. Had he 
 seen aright ? Had he heard aright ? Was that object
 
 210 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 before him really a man ? Was it not, rather, some bush 
 or stump distorted by his fears ? Had he heard a pebble 
 or stick thrown toward him ? Had he not, rather, heard 
 the noise of some decayed acorn, some rotten twig, as it 
 fell to the ground ? Had he heard a voice uttering a cau- 
 tion, or had he heard the swish of a bough, the rubbing of 
 branches against each other ? Yet it was but for a moment 
 that he thus doubted the next moment he knew that the 
 man near him was the negro Barney, the recognition being 
 due to a whispered declaration coming from Barney him- 
 self. 
 
 "Jest be quiet, sah ; dis is me." 
 
 Instantly renewed fears and doubts swept through Mor- 
 gan's mind. This negro was, to certain knowledge, a 
 deceiver ; he had been with Squire and with the Confed- 
 erates, but had gone to the Yankees and had denied his 
 former relation. The sergeant, ignorant of the fact that 
 Barney had overheard Freeman's questions and the replies 
 thereunto, had not the smallest thought of any claim upon 
 the negro's gratitude ; and so confirmed was his belief in 
 the falseness of the man, confirmed by his knowledge that 
 Freeman himself was full of suspicion, that he refused to 
 respond, and thought rather of sudden flight than of await- 
 ing the issue. But Barney was by instinct no mean logi- 
 cian ; he knew and felt that Morgan could not be expected 
 to trust him, and appreciated the necessity for acting 
 quickly. 
 
 " Don't be afeahed, sah," he whispered. " I'm yo' 
 frien' ; I heahed what shu said to de cap'm, sah." 
 
 " Are you going to help me ? " whispered the soldier.
 
 UNSTABLE AS WATER 211 
 
 " Yes, sah, if I can ; but I ain't got much time. De 
 company is awdehed to mahch, an' I got to git back 
 mighty quick. You mus' go dis a-way, sah," thrusting 
 his arm out almost in contact with the white man's face. 
 
 " How far do these woods stretch ? " 
 
 " Not mo'n a quauta', sah ; an' when you git to de aige 
 of 'em you can see de big road." 
 
 " What big road ? " 
 
 " I dunno, sah, whah it goes to." 
 
 " Troops over there ? " 
 
 " Yes, sah, awn de yotheh side ; but shu nee'n' to git 
 awn de yotheh side. Jest stay awn dis side, an' keep awn 
 down de aige o' de fiel'." 
 
 " I'm greatly obliged to you, Barney." 
 
 " I done all I can do fuh you, sah ; you helped me out, 
 an' I ain't a-gwine to go back awn sich as dat." 
 
 " Why didn't you stick to Squire ? " 
 
 " Unc Squiah, he jest went his way, sah, an' I jest went 
 my way. I dunno what I'd ha' done if I hadn't met up 
 wi' Cap'm Freeman ag'in. I've be'n with him befo'e, sah. 
 Now, sah, I've got to git back, 'caze dey'll be a-gwine f'om 
 heah. Good-by, sah." 
 
 Morgan did not wait ; he started in the direction given 
 him, fearing longer delay not that he doubted the negro's 
 faith in regard to himself, but because time was valuable. 
 He succeeded in reaching the edge of the woods, and then 
 crept south on the east side of the big road. But Barney's 
 knowledge of the country and the troops that occupied it 
 referred to a very small area, and Morgan soon found his 
 way blocked by a great cavalry bivouac extending far
 
 212 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 across his path. He endeavoured to flank it by going to 
 his left, and might have succeeded in achieving his escape 
 had not the bugles rang out " To horse " in every direc- 
 tion around him. He soon saw himself surrounded by 
 moving men and horses, and he tried to hide and wait till 
 the coast was clear, attempting the impossible. Men passed 
 near him without speaking, but the thing could not last 
 a few minutes went by, and again he was in the hands of 
 his enemies.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 
 
 " Is the coast clear ? None but friends ? " 
 
 GOLDSMITH. 
 
 MORE than half the night was gone ; the moon, chang- 
 ing to its last quarter, was fully two hours high. 
 
 Morgan's new captors were of Buford's division, which 
 had retired from the fight near Williamsport, and was 
 now beginning its movement toward Kilpatrick's left. In 
 the recent combat Buford's people had been sorely tried ; 
 the company into whose clutches Morgan had stumbled 
 had suffered greatly, the men being held too long to their 
 work even after their cartridges were exhausted. Its com- 
 mander was not in the best of humour. 
 
 " How did you get here, sir ? " he asked sharply, when 
 Morgan was halted before him. 
 
 The question brought with it the apprehension of a pos- 
 sible danger not hitherto thought of ; this Confederate, 
 unarmed, in the midst of moving enemies, was peculiar. 
 Yet a moment's reflection assured the captive that, in full 
 gray uniform, he had no reason to fear being accused as 
 a spy. 
 
 " I was captured, sir," was the simple reply, given in 
 tones respectful and low. 
 
 213
 
 214 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Can't I see that ? But how the hell did you manage 
 to get here in order to be captured ? " 
 
 " Straggling and hiding out, sir." 
 
 " Where are your arms ? " 
 
 "I had to throw them away, sir, and to abandon my 
 horse ; he was taken before I was." 
 
 " You were not in the fight this afternoon ? " 
 
 " No, sir ; I heard cannon in two directions, but I saw 
 no fighting." The declaration, literally taken, was true. 
 
 " Your command ? " 
 
 Morgan answered freely and fully, telling the whole 
 inclusive organization. 
 
 The officer ended the matter by giving the prisoner in 
 charge of two men whom he ordered to ride hard toward 
 Boonsboro, that they might overtake a batch of prisoners 
 sent back under guard earlier ; they were to deliver the 
 prisoner and return forthwith to their company. 
 
 "But if we don't catch up with 'em, Lieutenant?" 
 asked one of the men. 
 
 "Then turn him over to the first officer you find in 
 authority. You may be compelled to go as far as Boons- 
 boro." 
 
 Morgan was made to mount behind one of the men, and 
 the second trooper followed, his horse's head at the other's 
 tail. The leader struck a trot and soon found his road, 
 moving eastward. In the road, however, the trot was 
 necessarily abandoned, for the mud was above the fetlocks 
 and the foundation was slippery. 
 
 The great rains that began on the night of the 4th had 
 proved Lee's advantage and later would prove to be his
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 215 
 
 peril. The Maryland mud, coupled with uncertainty, pre- 
 vented the swift pursuit which the President, in agony of 
 suspense, urged upon his general. Lincoln's belief that 
 the rebels could not move more rapidly than the Federals 
 was borne out neither by facts nor by valid theory. In 
 retreating, Lee had one purpose ; in advancing, Meade 
 must have many ; besides, the retreat was conducted with 
 infantry leading, cavalry marching in rear; the advance 
 necessarily was in reverse order, so that the Confederate 
 infantry had the advantage of roads wet enough in all 
 conscience, but not cut and churned into the loblolly 
 through which Neill's division was forced to splatter be- 
 hind their own and their enemy's cavalry. So the bulk 
 of Meade's infantry was diverted from a direct pursuit of 
 the Confederates, and made a flank march to Middletown 
 through mud and slush, a slow march and painful because 
 of greater destitution than the Union troops often experi- 
 enced. Though Buford and Kilpatrick had marched with 
 sufficient rapidity to bring Stuart to action, they had not 
 succeeded in defeating him. Stuart and the mud gained 
 Lee the great position of Hagerstown where the swollen 
 Potomac held him for a week. 
 
 "Say, Locke," said the rear-guard, "you lead out o' 
 this. Git out there on the right. Dam'd if ever I saw 
 such a mess." 
 
 " How the hell you expect me to climb that fence ? " 
 
 They were in a closed lane, on the left a fence of stone, 
 on the right, one of rails. The progress was the slowest 
 walk. 
 
 "Well, we might jest as well go on back," said the
 
 216 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 rear. "Them fellers is five mile ahead before now, an' 
 a-gainin' ground. If they got any sense at all, it's 
 more'n we got, an' they tuck to the hard ground, you can 
 bet your bottom dollar on that. Say, Locke, you halt." 
 
 "What for?" 
 
 " You halt, an' I'll show you. Look out for that Johnny 
 now, an' I'm a-goin' to let down a gap." 
 
 " All right, Sam ; that's talkin'." 
 
 Sam rode to the rail fence and speedily lowered it so 
 that the horses could step over. 
 
 The march was now better, yet the hoofs sank into 
 the soil of a ploughed field. The leader guided right and 
 left, seeking avoidance of the bog, and soon cried out, 
 " Struck a good un, Sam," as the hoofs rang upon a stony, 
 unploughed path stretching directly downhill before 
 them. 
 
 The hill in front, wooded, obscured the moon. Locke's 
 path as yet had diverged but little from the fence, and it 
 was true policy to keep this path until its course should 
 change. The horses trotted. 
 
 The prisoner had not spoken, neither had his guards 
 addressed him a word. These were three veterans ; curi- 
 osity as to unknown individuals was not a strong point 
 with any of the three. 
 
 The woods on the hill were now distant but little more 
 than a stone's throw. Locke cried back, " Guess you'll 
 have to let down another gap, Sam." 
 
 But a moment more and he brought up at a stone fence. 
 
 " I'll be dam'd ! Let's go to the left an' git in the 
 big road again."
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 217 
 
 But his horse floundered. Sam tried it ; his horse 
 sank above the knees and was made to scramble out. 
 
 The weary horses stood still, and for the time neither man 
 spoke ; both were debating one and the same question. 
 
 " Be damned if I go back," said Locke at last. 
 
 " Then we got to go on down this rock fence till we git 
 some place." 
 
 " No, sir ! Cock your pistol, Sam, an' I'll manage this 
 business." 
 
 The leader dismounted, and Morgan could hear behind 
 him the ominous click that had been commanded ; yet he 
 had hope . . . but it was gone in the next instant as he 
 saw Locke carefully thrust his left hand through his 
 twisted bridle reins. 
 
 Locke was now standing at the fence ; he gave a strong 
 push against a topmost stone ; its outward fall was fol- 
 lowed by a loud splash. He leaned against the fence, 
 peering over. The shadows of the wood on the hill 
 were receding toward the east. Locke's head was in 
 the moonlight. 
 
 "Sam, I'll swear the's a bluff here ten foot." 
 
 The rear gave no response. 
 
 Locke remounted. The rear-guard returned his pistol 
 to its holster. 
 
 The leader urged his horse to the right, finding better 
 ground. Now and then he rode to the fence and looked. 
 Men and horses were in the moonlight. It must have 
 been almost two o'clock, Morgan thought, little more 
 than an hour until daybreak. 
 
 The fence at their left stretched southward. Morgan
 
 218 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 could not believe that this course would be kept long ; 
 his guards would soon make other decision unless an 
 opening should be seen. The prisoner, weary, almost 
 hopeless, found himself debating what he should have 
 done and should yet do in Locke's place. 
 
 There came a halt. Locke was again peering over the 
 fence. 
 
 " What you see now ? " asked Sam. 
 
 " I believe we might risk it. " 
 
 Morgan himself could see, beyond the fence, the flat 
 sandy margin of a narrow stream. 
 
 Locke dismounted, bidding his comrade guard the pris- 
 oner. Now the stones fell rapidly and made no splashing 
 sound. In two minutes the passage had been effected. 
 Locke went forward afoot, leading his horse down the 
 stream to the right, searching for a safe place to ford. 
 The stream wound this way and that. 
 
 Again Locke halted. " Guess we can make it," he said. 
 " Won't do to go on this way all night ; already lost half 
 a mile." 
 
 He mounted and headed his horse into the water, which 
 proved of little depth. 
 
 On the eastern side the party turned left, in order to 
 regain the road. After a few yards they struck into a 
 bridle-path, which Locke began at once to follow, for it 
 seemed to stretch due eastward over the hills, and he knew 
 not what marsh might stop him if he should continue to 
 ascend the flat. They were making good speed ; and 
 soon the path joined a wider one, and Locke urged for- 
 ward yet faster, believing his course correct merely
 
 WATS CONVERGING 218 
 
 believing, for zigzagging here in the wooded hills allowed 
 no real knowledge of this road. 
 
 On top of the hill the leader paused, for the moon was 
 now at their left oblique, while the road turned sharply to 
 the right. 
 
 " By God ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " What's the matter with you now ? " 
 
 " Goin' straight southwest," he sighed. " And I'll bet 
 you that ever since we left that dam fence we've been 
 a-goin' round and round." 
 
 The horses stood motionless, with drooped heads ; they 
 had had but little rest in the past two days. Their 
 shadows were almost in the road at their front. 
 
 Sam spoke : " Locke, seems to me this road's just 
 a-turnin' up to some house on the hill. S'posin' we ride 
 on a piece an' see ? " 
 
 For lack of better Locke started, and to his great joy 
 soon proved the soundness of his comrade's conjecture. 
 They rode up to the gate of a large dwelling. 
 
 " Hello ! hello ! hello ! " shouted the leader, at each 
 successive syllable ascending the scale and exerting more 
 his lungs. 
 
 "Dam it, Locke, if the's a gang o' rebs in two mile, 
 you'll bring 'em down on us ! " 
 
 " Hello ! hello ! hello ! " Locke repeated, as though 
 Sam's comment was utterly unworthy of serious thought. 
 
 Footsteps were heard, and then the noise of an opening 
 door. 
 
 " Hello ! What chu want ? " 
 
 "Come out here."
 
 220 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Who are you?" 
 
 "Buford's cavalry." 
 
 A man came forward into the moonlight came hastily. 
 
 "Boys, I tell you right now, you better be keerful." 
 
 " What about ? Anything rotten round here ? " 
 
 " Well, I tell you right now, you're not as safe as you 
 might be. The' was some men passed by here not half an 
 hour ago, an' I don't know their names." 
 
 " How many ? " 
 
 "Two two's all I see." 
 
 " Oh, well, I guess they're all right ; anyway, two men 
 don't count. Which way'd they go ? " 
 
 " East. One of 'em he comes on to the porch an' wakes 
 me up ; an' he was so quiet like about it 'at I knowed he 
 was skeered, an' I says to myself, 'You must be a long 
 ways f'om home,' says I ; an' then when he asks me ques- 
 tions, I see at once 'at he wants to know too much." 
 
 " Make out his clothes ? " 
 
 " No, only I see 'at he had a jacket on 'stead of a sack 
 like your'n ; an' then they started fust one way, an' then 
 they don't go not more'n ten rod before here they comes 
 a-ridin' back an' goes on east ; an' then I says to myself, 
 'You two fellers is rebs, an' I can see it by your pore 
 bosses,' says I." 
 
 " Well," says Locke, " let 'em go. I guess they'd be 
 willin' to let us pass providin' we were willin'. I want to 
 know how to get to Boonsboro." 
 
 " Go this way," pointing toward the back track ; " a 
 mile from here you'll strike the big road. No way to put 
 you out ; all you got to do is just stay on top o' the
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 221 
 
 range an' just foller the plain road, don't matter how it 
 turns. How'd the fight go, up higher ? " 
 
 " Went wrong. Johnnies had all the luck. Say, where 
 does this end o' this dam road go to, anyhow ? " 
 
 " Winds about over the range and strikes for Harper's 
 Ferry, but not all at oncet." 
 
 " Harper's Ferry ? Our folks there, or the rebs ? " 
 
 " Our'n, I hear ; but I hear a heap o' things that I 
 don't count for Gospel." 
 
 They turned back. Locke had no desire to see Harper's 
 Ferry, even though he were sure to find it in the hands of 
 his own people, who were indeed at this time about to 
 seize it. General Kenly would march at sunrise for 
 Maryland Heights, which commanded the town. The 
 Federals had already sent scouting parties in that direc- 
 tion, who had reported the coast clear ; but they failed to 
 see and intercept some of Mosby's men, who, sent into 
 Maryland below Leesburg, had been cut off by the swollen 
 Potomac and had been forced to steal their way at night, 
 by twos and threes, up the river, making for Lee's army 
 on its retreat. On this night Usher West and Tom 
 Baxter had reached the range. 
 
 " Hush ! " says Tom, bringing his horse to a stand. 
 
 Far in front there were sounds, but so indistinct that 
 the two could only know that a man was speaking. Again 
 the sound was heard ; then there was deep silence that 
 continued long. 
 
 " How far, you think ? " asked West. 
 
 "A quarter, I reckon." 
 
 " Better wait awhile, hadn't we ? "
 
 222 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 But at once another sound was heard that of a horse's 
 footfall. 
 
 " Coming ? " whispered Baxter. 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 They dismounted and hid in the thicket ; there Baxter 
 remained, and West returned toward the roadside. Be- 
 fore him was an irregular open space strewn with great 
 rocks and low straggling bushes. West lay behind a 
 bush and watched the open. Sounds of hoofs were clear 
 and sharp, more than one horse coming. 
 
 A minute later two horsemen came into the moonlight. 
 They were riding abreast, in a slow walk, perhaps wary, 
 possibly weary. They came on until they were against 
 Usher's hiding-place thirty feet from the road. 
 
 " Hello ! heUo ! hello ! " 
 
 The voice was clear, yet it came from a distance, per- 
 haps the fourth of a mile, for the night was very still. 
 The two horsemen halted and turned their heads, as 
 though to listen. 
 
 "Hello! hello! hello ! " 
 
 " Yanks," said one of the horsemen. 
 
 " I'm a-thinkin' so too, George," said the other. 
 
 West rose to his feet. At once two pistols were levelled 
 upon him. 
 
 " I'm yours truly, boys," he said, laughing ; " Usher 
 West." " 
 
 " What ! " exclaimed two voices. 
 
 " Yes ; come on down here in the woods ; I've got 
 Baxter with me." 
 
 In the thicket reciprocal explanations followed, showing
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 228 
 
 on the one part that Sency and Lewis bad been sent out 
 by their colonel to examine the ground between Buford's 
 left and the Potomac. 
 
 "It's all clear below here for two or three miles, 
 George," says Baxter; "we've just come up that way." 
 
 " And what you fellers goin' to do now ? " says Joe. 
 
 " Got to go up the river till we can get across. They 
 say Lee's making for Williamsport ; and if that's true, 
 we've got to go there too." 
 
 Sency decided to turn back. He must make as early 
 report as possible ; besides, it seemed useless to go on 
 he had already found that the Federal cavalry were 
 leaning north rather than south. 
 
 The shouts that the men had heard were no more re- 
 peated. The four men rode westward, Sency and West 
 leading. 
 
 " Know the road ? " says Usher. 
 
 " Yes, just come over it. Big house up here a piece. 
 We stopped there, but the man gave us nothing. Reckon 
 we'd better be sly ; I think that's just about where we 
 heard that hello business a little while ago." 
 
 "How's all the boys?" asked Usher. "How's Arm- 
 strong and Morgan ? " 
 
 " Both in bad luck, but might be worse. Charley's got 
 a sword cut on his head, and Morgan's missing since late 
 yesterday; afraid they've got him." 
 
 " Armstrong get it bad ? " 
 
 " Don't know. Doctor said he wasn't sure any bones 
 had been cracked, and if they hadn't he'd be all right in 
 no time, if he could just keep his head cool in this hot
 
 224 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 weather ; but then he didn't know. They put him in a 
 wagon, and I reckon he's at Williamsport by this time. 
 Old Squire's with him," and Sency gave a great yawn of 
 sleepiness. 
 
 " Say, Sency, did you know that Morgan's brother is at 
 our house ? " 
 
 " At your house ? Why, no ; how did that happen ? 
 I thought they were taking him to Washington." 
 Another yawn. 
 
 " Yanks couldn't get through with the ambulance ; 
 you know they'd just found out about Stuart's march, 
 and didn't know what to do. They could ha' got 
 through, but didn't know it, so Morgan was left 
 with Father ; he's got a Yankee surgeon staying with 
 him." 
 
 " And how is he ? " 
 
 " Better, so the doctor says, but he hadn't said a word 
 up to the night I left." 
 
 " When was that ? Ah ! " and Sency's yawn was 
 stifled in an exclamation. 
 
 " Sh " whispers West, and halts. 
 
 " I hear it," says Sency. 
 
 " How far, you think ? " 
 
 " Close by, and coming ; between here and that house 
 we passed. Don't you think so, Joe ? " 
 
 "Boun' to be." 
 
 " How many do you make 'em ? " 
 
 Sency sprang from his horse and put his ear to the 
 ground. An instant more and he had remounted. 
 
 " Two," he said.
 
 WAYS CONVERGING 225 
 
 " Suppose we gobble 'em up," suggested Mosby's man, 
 professionally. 
 
 " I'm willing. I don't want the men, but my horse is 
 in need of repairs, and I'm willing to swap sight unseen." 
 
 Sency took command. He posted Usher West on the 
 south of the road, Baxter and Lewis on the right, all in 
 the bushes, while he remained, sitting his horse, in the 
 open road.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 
 
 " If they come off safe, call their deliverance a miracle." 
 
 ADDISON. 
 
 THE two Federals, with their prisoner, were making 
 good headway on the best road they had yet found, and 
 were nearing the end of their outgoing journey a mile 
 more, they had been told, would put them in the main 
 road. In a little while they would turn over their 
 charge and then start on the return. As yet there was 
 no sign of day. 
 
 The prisoner, actually asleep, his head resting against 
 Locke's neck, was roused by the abrupt jerk with which 
 the guard brought his horse to a stand. 
 
 " What's up ? " says Sam. 
 
 Morgan, dimly conscious, at first awakening, of sudden 
 perplexity in the manner of his guards, quickly became 
 alert. He peered over Locke's shoulder. In front, some 
 fifty yards away, stood a motionless horseman square in 
 the road. 
 
 " Don't you see ? " asked Locke. 
 
 Sam changed position a foot or two, and, as his horse 
 moved, he thought he heard a noise in the brush at the 
 
 226
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 227 
 
 i 
 
 left ; but his attention was distracted at once from this 
 noise by seeing the single horseman begin to turn as 
 though he intended flight. 
 
 Locke's first thought had been that the man in his front 
 was a sentinel, posted by whatever Federal command had 
 camped at Boonsboro ; he had expected a challenge, 
 which would have been highly welcome to his ears ; now, 
 seeing the man begin to retire, suspicions assailed him. 
 Of course, in these parts, chances were great that the 
 man was of the right colour perhaps he was a Federal 
 scout willing to compromise, choosing to slip away rather 
 than run the risk of capture by two men whose degree of 
 unfriendliness could not be accurately estimated at fifty 
 yards under a half-moon. At any rate, the man had be- 
 gun to retreat, and Locke had no objection to such move- 
 ment on the part of the unknown. Locke had drawn his 
 pistol, and he still held it as he again rode on. 
 
 But the singular horseman had made less than a hundred 
 feet before he halted ; he turned his horse and faced the 
 Federals once more. 
 
 " Who comes there ? " cried the stranger. 
 
 Locke had now heard the wished-for challenge, yet he 
 felt a cold shiver run from the centre of his spine in con- 
 trary directions and back not at the words, or at the 
 tones, but merely at the low pitch of the man's voice. 
 For an infinitesimal moment he considered. The reply 
 to a challenge should be immediate ; but Locke was not 
 thoroughly prompt. Never in his previous experience had 
 he been challenged in a voice so little above a whisper ; 
 yet he must speak, and he opened his lips ; but before he
 
 228 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 had made a sound there came to him a repetition, nay 
 more, three repetitions of the challenge. 
 
 " Who comes there ? " 
 
 Right, left, and rear, the low voices had sounded. 
 
 Sam turned, and saw a horseman blocking his way. 
 From both sides came the noise of hoofs, sounds hardly 
 heard in the greater noise of rustling leaves and boughs. 
 
 Morgan threw his arms around Locke. " Better take it 
 quietly," he said ; " you've treated me well enough, and 
 I'll speak a good word for you." Then he called out, 
 " Come on, George ! " for he had recognized Sency's voice. 
 
 There was no clamorous rejoicing by the rebels ; nei- 
 ther, on the other part, was there any weak display of 
 sorrow. A veteran cavalryman looks to be made a prisoner 
 no less than he expects to take prisoners ; the only sur- 
 prising sensation was the wonder common to Morgan and 
 his friends at the unexpected meeting. The Federals 
 were stripped of their arms and turned loose afoot without 
 even the pretence of exacting a verbal parole, and the 
 party, now five men with one led horse, made their way 
 toward the cavalry lines. 
 
 " Boys," says Morgan, " what are these horses worth ? 
 I want both of 'em." 
 
 "Not worth much," says Sency. "I thought I was 
 going to get a good swap, but I reckon I'll hold on to my 
 own." 
 
 " How much are they worth ? " repeated the sergeant. 
 
 " But whose are they ? " asked West. 
 
 "You and Baxter could claim 'em." 
 
 "We never would ha' bothered with 'em if we had
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 229 
 
 been alone. I reckon they belong to the Confederacy. 
 Joe and George were on regular duty." 
 
 " What do you say, George, you and Joe ? " 
 
 "I think at least half the business is Baxter's and 
 West's." 
 
 So said Joe Lewis, also. 
 
 " Well," says Usher, " neither one of 'em is much pun- 
 kins of a horse. I reckon Morgan himself has a right to 
 one of 'em, seeing that he's just lost his own in this same 
 night's scrape. Maybe the other belongs to Tom and me. 
 What do you want him for ? " 
 
 " Want him for Charley Armstrong." 
 
 " But what are you going to do with him till Armstrong 
 gets well ? " 
 
 " He'll be well in a couple of weeks ; at least I hope so, 
 and if I don't save this mount for him, I can't see where 
 he'll get one. Tell you what I'll do, boys, and I won't do 
 anything else. We'll call that one a token of affection 
 from all you fellows to Armstrong if you'll let me divide 
 a thousand among you for this one I'm on." 
 
 The offer was taken. Morgan was rich and obdurate ; 
 the other men were poor and receptive. 
 
 Inside the Confederate lines, Morgan, Sency, and Lewis 
 reported to their commander. Baxter and West con- 
 tinued toward Williamsport, leading the extra horse that 
 had been voted Armstrong's property. They would see 
 Charley, hand over the horse to old Squire, and as soon 
 as they could would return to Loudoun that they might 
 be ready for Mosby's orders ; it was evident that the war 
 would quickly roll back upon Virginia. But at Williams-
 
 230 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 port they found no speedy way to cross. Boats were 
 crossing, but for a time not even prisoners or wounded 
 were to be allowed a passage to the south side, the need 
 of hurrying supplies, and mainly ammunition, to Lee's 
 hungry men and empty ordnance train demanding the 
 rapid, and therefore exclusive, use of the boats for 
 wagons from south to north. West found Armstrong 
 cheerful, who laughingly professed to have been more 
 scared than hurt. In a mell of charging groups his horse 
 had been killed just as his own head had been almost 
 smashed by a descending sabre, and he had fallen uncon- 
 scious and entangled. Drawn out by Squire and Barney, 
 and taken to a surgeon who was up to his elbows in blood, 
 his case had been declared serious yet hopeful, and the 
 intense pain which had been prolonged and even in- 
 creased in the rough journey by wagon, had but aug- 
 mented his natural fear concerning his condition, which 
 fear was not ended until the 6th, when his head was again 
 and more thoroughly examined and pronounced whole 
 and hard ; so he was almost overjoyed when he learned 
 that his friends had provided him with a new mount. 
 
 On the 12th, after many skirmishes, Stuart uncovered 
 Lee's infantry now in position. Armstrong, taken to the 
 south side, was still under the surgeon, but as a rapid 
 convalescent, the more severely wounded having been 
 sent south. West and Baxter also had crossed the 
 Potomac ; they greatly desired to return to Loudoun, but 
 the Shenandoah was very high and they decided to wait. 
 
 Old Squire had his hands full and his pockets as well ; 
 the work of foraging for three men and three horses kept
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 231 
 
 him busy while West and Baxter kept him supplied with 
 money. Somehow by hook or crook Squire had got 
 eight sections of tent cloth, and the men had rigged up a 
 shelter more comfortable in this hot weather than a house 
 would have been, for their fly was under a great oak, and 
 its sides were all open. But it came on to rain. 
 
 Morgan had reported to Stuart concerning the where- 
 abouts and condition of West and Baxter, and the gen- 
 eral had expressed gratification. "I'll need those men 
 shortly," he had said, and had sent them a message, bid- 
 ding them remain where they were. 
 
 A day later Stuart sent for the sergeant. 
 
 " Dan, how'd you like to go into Loudoun next week ? " 
 
 " At your orders, General. Alone, sir ? " 
 
 " Oh, no, a few picked men. Those two men of Major 
 Mosby's battalion are over yonder yet ? " 
 
 " I think so, sir ; I heard yesterday that they were still 
 staying with Armstrong on the south side." 
 
 " Yes, I ordered 'em to stay there ; hold yourself in 
 readiness, Dan." 
 
 This was all that was said at the time, but Morgan 
 conceived that Mosby's two men were being held back 
 in order to lend strength to his own expedition into 
 Loudoun, of which the general had hinted. 
 
 Meade's infantry faced Lee's two full days at Hagers- 
 town, but made no general advance. On the night of 
 the 13th, Stuart covering the retreat, the Southern army 
 drew back into Virginia. There was the customary skir- 
 mishing by the rear-guard, and on the 16th Morgan's regi- 
 ment lost its commander, the gallant Drake. Repeated
 
 232 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 rains had made the roads quagmires and had overflowed 
 the smaller streams, even the Shenandoah being level 
 with its banks. 
 
 The Federals crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry 
 and below. The relative positions of the two armies 
 were identical with those of McClellan and Lee in the 
 preceding autumn just subsequent to the battle of An- 
 tietam. McClellan, in 1862, after long delay, had made 
 the movement which Meade would push with greater 
 promptness and vigour. The contrast in the activity of 
 these two generals, prosecuting the same measures, but 
 with seeming lukewarmness on the part of one and 
 greater energy on that of the other, could not have 
 failed to call forth many criticisms derogatory to Mc- 
 Clellan, though it should be remembered in his favour 
 that he had no precedent of experience to guide him as 
 had Meade, who a year later repeated McClellan's move- 
 ment, and that in 1862 the Shenandoah was easily to 
 be passed by Lee's army. Yet, on the other hand, Mc- 
 Clellan's enemy, relatively, was not nearly so formidable 
 as Meade's. It is the common belief that Gettysburg 
 was a field of glorious victory, and that Antietam was 
 in reality a drawn battle, without the honour of success 
 to the Union cause until it became known that Lee had 
 declined a further contest on that field. Yet it would 
 not be difficult to show that the converse was more nearly 
 true : the battle of Antietam gave McClellan over Lee 
 twice the preponderance that Meade obtained by reason 
 of Gettysburg. And in so far as either battle should 
 be regarded as a mere battle, that is to say, for the
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 233 
 
 moment leaving out of consideration all the moral effect 
 of the respective campaigns in their termination, it is 
 hardly too much to believe that Antietam was as great 
 a day for the Union rank and file as even the Friday at 
 Gettysburg, and certainly a very much greater day than 
 Wednesday or Thursday, either or both ; for McClellan's 
 battle reduced his antagonist to a point almost beyond 
 hopeful defence, while Meade's had scarcely changed its 
 relative capacity to resist. The future historian, doubt- 
 less, will mark the beginning and place of the Confeder- 
 acy's military decay not the 3d of July in Pennsylvania, 
 but the 4th in Mississippi. 
 
 Be this and these as they may, the facts remain that 
 General Lee on the 17th of July found the Shenandoah 
 impassable except by bridging, and learned that Meade 
 showed signs of repeating McClellan's movement. A 
 rapid march through Loudoun and Rappahannock coun- 
 ties to Culpeper might place the Federal army between 
 Lee and Richmond, for Lee must perforce march up the 
 Valley almost southwest in order to effect a crossing at 
 Front Royal. True, a pontoon bridge might have been 
 laid at almost any point on the Shenandoah ; but at 
 what point? Certainly not at any of the roads that 
 passed through the northern gaps in the mountains, for 
 the exits of these gaps could be blocked by Meade's in- 
 fantry before Lee's could cross the river ; and if it should 
 be determined to cross into Loudoun, Lee must first get 
 trustworthy information, to be had only by sending men 
 across the brimming river and beyond the eastern moun- 
 tains.
 
 234 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 On the night of the 17th General Stuart sent for 
 Morgan. 
 
 "Dan," he said, "I want you to get into Loudoun 
 County and stay there till you find out something." 
 
 The sergeant bowed. 
 
 "Major, be good enough to give Sergeant Morgan all 
 the information you can, and all the help you can, too. 
 I am ordered off, Dan got to go ; but Major Mc- 
 Clellan will fix you up all right. Take as many of the 
 boys as you think you will need, or, I mean to say, 
 as few as you can get along with. The major'll see you 
 through." 
 
 Stuart rode off for a conference with his commander ; 
 his adjutant explained fully the intent of the expedition, 
 and gave orders for the detail to be chosen by the ser- 
 geant a detail of but three cavalrymen and four men 
 of the signal corps. And so, on the morning of the 18th, 
 our four friends, accompanied by Baxter and West, with 
 the signal men, and attended by old Squire on a mule 
 that Major McClellan had somehow managed to spare 
 for the enterprise, made their way toward a crossing on 
 the Shenandoah near Meyerstown. Armstrong's head 
 was not well as yet, but he had refused to consider him- 
 self unfit for the duty required. Fears were felt that the 
 hot summer sun would do him damage, and the journey 
 was pressed with due regard to his condition, the shadiest 
 ways being chosen, with rests called when he seemed to 
 suffer, so that it was noon when they came in sight of 
 the river. Here West's experience came into service : 
 he rode to the nearest farm-house and demanded the use
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 235 
 
 of a skiff, which after some little temporizing was pointed 
 out in its hiding-place. Three stages landed the party 
 on the eastern bank, the horses swimming, bridles held 
 by the men in the boat. 
 
 Two of the signal men had been left upon the west 
 side ; the others were to attain some high point on the 
 Ridge whence by smoke they could convey to their com- 
 rades the most important tidings. In case of necessity, 
 one must return nearer the river in order to give more 
 detailed information by means of the customary flag 
 signals. 
 
 " Now, boys," says West, " you follow me. String out 
 fifty yards apart or such a matter. Better let Baxter 
 come next to me ; then Morgan, to look after Charley ; 
 then you signal folks, and George and Lewis can bring 
 up the rear." 
 
 " Den I's a-gwine to stay by my Mahs Chahley," said 
 Squire. 
 
 "No, I want you to stick right by my side," said 
 Usher. " I may want you to go ahead. I reckon I'll 
 show you the devil to-night, Squire." 
 
 " I done seed him too many times," said the old man, 
 but he obeyed orders and took his place. 
 
 " Now," said West, " everybody must halt whenever he 
 sees his leader halt, and whenever the rear is obliged to 
 make any report you must whistle and every man must 
 repeat and halt, and then close up, and every man must 
 take his cue from his leader ; each man must follow on 
 and do what you see the front man do." 
 
 Then there followed a display of woodcraft that had
 
 230 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 been learned in perilous experience. "West mounted and 
 rode up the river bank under the drooping trees, his horse 
 sometimes up to the belly in water. East was a great 
 field, with a road fenced on both sides running toward 
 the mountain through the open. No distant eye must see 
 this procession. The leader went on, frequently making 
 progress with great difficulty, until he reached a point 
 opposite the northern boundary of the field ; here he 
 halted. He looked back and saw that Baxter had halted, 
 Squire's horse almost at the side of his own. He dis- 
 mounted, gave the negro his bridle, and went forward 
 afoot, commanding Squire to be still. He was gone long, 
 possibly half an hour, but when he returned he seemed 
 satisfied. Remounting, he led on again, eastward now, 
 flanking the field, slowly ascending the wooded foot-hills. 
 At one place where the trees were sparse he dismounted 
 and walked forward, so handling his bridle that the body 
 of his horse intervened between himself and open ground. 
 Squire imitated the movement. Ever winding about 
 south, east, north, sometimes even west the leader went 
 on, his speed varying in accordance with the nature of 
 the ground and according to his estimate of the degree 
 of security from observation a compound of conditions 
 evasive of mathematics and void of resolution to every- 
 thing but experience coupled with delicate instinct. At 
 length he halted and ordered Squire to ride back and 
 tell all the men to close up. 
 
 Then he spoke to the signal men. " You see that bald 
 spot over yonder across the gulch ? From that place your 
 flags can be seen by your men over the river."
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 237 
 
 " But how the devil can we ever find that spot again ? " 
 
 " By this tree," said West ; " I've come out of the way 
 to bring you to this big pine ; it's the biggest one about 
 here. I noticed that spot and the pine when we left your 
 men back yonder. I suppose you'll have no trouble if 
 you can get here ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; if we can get here, we can get over yonder ; 
 but we must look out now for more guide-posts." 
 
 " Yes, all we've got to do is to find other points from 
 which you can see this tree ; but, mind you, don't go to 
 blazing any path." 
 
 And the winding way was resumed, Armstrong, here 
 in the woods, keeping bravely up. 
 
 Now they were at such a height that when vision was 
 open to the southwest the smoke of Lee's great camps 
 was visible above the Limestone Range, and once, when 
 the prospect was north, Morgan was almost sure that he 
 saw smoke rising from Meade's, near Harper's Ferry, an 
 opinion he was ready to revise on the next day. The sun 
 was setting, but the crooked march continued, with now 
 and then a pause in which West showed some natural 
 way mark to the signal men. Sharp ascents were made, 
 the riders dismounting. Though the peaks were still in 
 the sunlight, West knew that darkness would fall quickly. 
 He was yet far from the point he had wanted to reach ; 
 but as the gloom came on he stopped in a heavily wooded 
 gulch, where a clear streamlet was trickling over the 
 stones, and ordered all to close up. 
 
 " Got to camp, Morgan. Can't go any farther to-night, 
 unless we all take it afoot."
 
 238 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Morgan readily assented ; he was more than willing 
 because of Armstrong. They had brought forage and 
 rations, and West allowed a fire, for the ravine was so 
 environed with wood and peak that little fear was felt. 
 Squire made a great bed of leaves for Armstrong, who, 
 now that the stress of the day's journey was over, had 
 scarcely strength to move. The halt had not come too 
 soon. 
 
 After a hurried meal, West took Morgan aside. 
 
 "I ought to see to-night what's on the Hillsborough 
 and Harper's Ferry road, and I'd better take old Squire 
 with me." 
 
 " Hard work, Usher ; better rest and go on to-morrow." 
 
 "No; you see I know where to find a man. The 
 major keeps a man on the lookout in these parts. I don't 
 know who's there at this time, but there ought to be 
 somebody. And if anything has happened, you know we 
 can't get word back too soon." 
 
 " Can you find your way back ? " asked Morgan. 
 
 " Not to-night. See that moon ? She'll be down long 
 before I can start back. But it won't matter; I'll get 
 back before sun-up." 
 
 "All right. Do what you think best," said the 
 sergeant. 
 
 Armstrong was asleep. Usher West bade Squire to 
 follow, and started across the mountain afoot. He was 
 apparently unarmed, and Mosby's men wore no uniform 
 except upon occasion. For half an hour West went on 
 as rapidly as possible, making the most of the moonlight, 
 now and then pausing to look at the stars. The way was
 
 BACK TOWARD LOUDOUN 239 
 
 extremely rough, but at length he struck into a travelled 
 road, and here their further progress would be a descent. 
 They had reached the greatest elevation of this obscure 
 
 "Squire," said West, halting, "you must lead now." 
 
 The speech had hardly ended when from far away came 
 to their ears a familiar sound directly from the east it 
 floated the sound of a bugle. 
 
 Squire muttered a prayer. 
 
 " Yes," said Usher, " they're there ; but we must try it. 
 Go ahead, Squire, and go mighty slow ; as soon as you 
 see anything skeery slip back and let me know." 
 
 The old man's teeth chattered, but he went forward 
 down the road, Usher following at twenty paces. 
 ******* 
 
 On this day four of Meade's infantry corps had crossed 
 to the south side of the Potomac, and his cavalry had 
 advanced far into Loudoun. Captain Freeman's company 
 was on the Hillsborough road.
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 
 
 " What, a play toward ! I'll be an auditor ; 
 An actor too, perhaps, if I see cause." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 " WHAT the hell do they mean? " 
 
 Captain Freeman had risen to his feet; he looked 
 angry, or rather acted anger, his change of expression 
 being unseen in the dim light of the fire which Barney, 
 supper long over, had allowed to die. 
 
 "I guess they've got no notion that we are in any 
 danger. Fellow was practising a little, I suppose." 
 Lieutenant Brock was the speaker. 
 
 " Send a man back to Colonel Smith and beg him to 
 see that that bugler is stopped. Beg him to allow no 
 noise at all. He ought to have known better, dam it ! " 
 
 Brock called a sergeant and gave orders. Smith's 
 command, half a mile in rear, must not imperil the safety 
 of Freeman's company, the advance guard. 
 
 Freeman sat down. " I don't like it, Brock. If there's 
 a rebel scout in two miles he'll know how to bring his 
 gang down on us. I have half a mind to patrol the road 
 to the west. Yes, I'll do it," he said, again rising. 
 " Sergeant Walker ! " he called. 
 
 240
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 241 
 
 The orderly-sergeant came. 
 
 " Send a corporal and six men west. Have them go as 
 far as they can, not to exceed three miles, and order them 
 to be quiet, and to send reports back if they learn any- 
 thing. And if they suspect any man farmer, or parson, 
 or pedler, or what not take him at once and send him 
 in. But you can send me the corporal first. Who is it 
 to-night ? " 
 
 " Corporal Cliff, sir." 
 
 " Send Cliff to me, Sergeant." 
 
 A tall, handsome young man stood before Freeman. 
 Corporal Cliff had but three days previously rejoined his 
 company, wounds received at Kelly's Ford having disabled 
 him for months. 
 
 " Corporal, with six men you will patrol the road over 
 the mountain the road to the west. Mind you now 
 that you don't turn north at the fork go west on the 
 narrow road. You will find a picket there. You are 
 to remain out until relieved, unless you are forced back. 
 Be prudent. Keep one man out in front as you go, and 
 better make him go afoot. Report everything suspi- 
 cious seize any suspicious man you may see watch 
 the houses if you find any man returning home, why, 
 take him and send him in." 
 
 Cliff saluted and started to withdraw. 
 
 "Furthermore," said Freeman, "caution your men 
 against noise. Twenty yards apart. If any man runs 
 from you, let him run ; don't fire. You can't hit any- 
 thing in the dark, mind you now, and I want no noise. 
 Catch 'em if you can, but make no noise. And be sure
 
 242 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 you go no farther than three miles and see always that 
 your rear is all right.^' 
 
 The corporal and his men were soon at the junction 
 of the roads. The picket stationed here could tell them 
 nothing more than they knew ; there had been no cause 
 for alarm. 
 
 Cliff told off his men by number : " Wilson, one ; 
 O'Donnell, two ; Jones, three ; Hamilton, four ; Smithers, 
 five ; Ledbetter, six. Now, men, go forward by number, 
 twenty yards apart. Wilson, dismount and let Smithers 
 lead your horse ; at the first sign of trouble you will fall 
 back on O'Donnell ; I ride with Jones." 
 
 The choice of Wilson was the best possible ; the suc- 
 cession of the other men was without regard to the occa- 
 sion. Wilson dismounted and went forward slowly, his 
 carbine resting in the hollow of his left arm. His sabre 
 made a rattling noise ; he shifted his carbine to his right 
 hand, and held his sabre steady with the left. Had the 
 ground been open, the starlight would have been sufficient 
 to enable him to see every step ; but here on the edge of 
 the mountain, with great trees overhanging the crooked 
 road, Wilson felt that he must depend more on ear than on 
 eye. His foot came down softly, that he might listen even in 
 the intervals of his strides ; but at each interval he could 
 hear only the clatter of O'Donnell in his rear, whose horse's 
 hoofs struck the flinty road without diffidence or respect. 
 For a mile Wilson bore this annoyance ; then he halted, 
 and waited for O'Donnell to close up. And now, waiting, 
 and looking intently ahead, all his mind centred on what 
 was to be seen, and none of his power wasted in listening,
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 243 
 
 he was sure that he saw two forms of men in the road 
 before him ... a second more and they had vanished. 
 
 " Come in here ! " he cried, but in a low tone. 
 
 O'Donnell was almost upon him, making a noise that 
 rendered oral silence unnecessary. 
 
 "'O'Donnell, you follow too close," said Wilson. "I'd 
 swear that I saw two men ; but they've gone off. Halt 
 here till Cliff comes up and ask him to spread you fellows 
 out more. I can hear nothing for the noise you make, 
 and anybody in half a mile can hear you coming." 
 
 " Begobs, and it's all wan to me, Wilson. And if the 
 carpral says the worrd, Oi'll kape a moile behoint ye, so 
 Oi will." 
 
 " Hush ! " said Wilson, peering into the wood. But if 
 anything was there, it gave no further indication of exist- 
 ence. Wilson went on and halted some fifty yards in 
 front of O'Donnell, on whom Jones and Cliff now closed 
 up, while all- the rear was closing. 
 
 " What's the halt for ? " asked Cliff. 
 
 " He wantts me to roide more in resarve. He says 
 twinty paces dhrowns him with me horse so that he hears 
 nah thing but me horse." 
 
 " Well, O'Donnell, I guess he's right about it. Keep 
 fifty paces hereafter. You other men, however, may hold 
 to your twenty. That's Captain Freeman's order ; but I 
 guess fifty won't hurt for the first man." 
 
 The march proceeded, O'Donnell preserving the new 
 interval. 
 
 When the last horseman had passed this spot a hundred 
 yards, two men rose to their feet.
 
 244 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Close shave, Squire," whispered West. 
 
 " Yassah," the negro whispered in return, " an' I knows 
 dat man ; I knows him feh true. Didn't shu heah dat 
 Hirish?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Wat dat yotheh man call him, Mahs Usheh ? " asked 
 Squire in trembling tones. 
 
 " O'Connell, I thought," Usher whispered. 
 
 "Yassah, hit's mos' lak dat, but dat ain't hit ezackly." 
 
 "O'Donnell?" 
 
 " Yassah, dat's de ve'y man ; an' he b'longs to Cap'm 
 Freeman w'at had me oncet o' twicet befo'e, an' I ain't 
 got no bus'ness wi' dat man no mo'e." 
 
 " What Freeman you talkin' about ? " 
 
 "Mahs Usheh, ain't shu know 'bout dat same cap'm 
 w'at come to ouah house an' tuck away Mahs Dan's 
 brotheh ? " 
 
 " Yes, but how do you know that he is the same Free- 
 man?" 
 
 " I knows it dess 'caze dat same Hirish was wid 'im, an' 
 he knows me too you ax Mahs Dan an' Mahs Chahley. 
 I went up to 'em in dey camp, an' I tole 'em to come an' 
 git Mahs Dan's brotheh, an' den de nex' day dey got me, 
 an' dey ain't got no bus'ness wid ole Squiah no mo'e." 
 
 " Lord, Squire, if that's the case, then that fellow that 
 you and Morgan have been talking about so much that 
 nigger Barney he's with Captain Freeman, and maybe 
 you'll get to see him again," and West giggled. " He did 
 you a good turn once, and he did Morgan a good turn, 
 and I'd think you'd like to meet up with him."
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 245 
 
 "Me? Now, Mahs Usheh, I dess as soon meet up 
 wi' de debble w'at shu done say I gwine to see to-night. 
 Mahs Usheh, hit won't do to go awn down dis a-way no 
 mo'e." 
 
 West saw that the negro was unstrung. "Come on, 
 Squire," he said ; " you have done your part like a man, 
 and now it's my time to lead." 
 
 West, with Squire following, crept along the edge of 
 the road ; for an instant he had considered the policy of 
 getting back to Morgan and devising the capture of the 
 few men that he had seen ; but the thought had been 
 abandoned as soon as suggested, for Stuart's purpose must 
 not be hindered. He had learned already that Federal 
 cavalry held the Hillsborough road cavalry from the 
 army under Meade, no doubt ; it was quite likely that 
 infantry was following, and he wanted to make sure, and 
 quickly, so that information could be sent west of the 
 mountains. A day's delay meant peril to Lee's army. 
 
 Soon West turned northward, and, after stumbling 
 through brush, and over rocks, and into ravines, in half a 
 mile he stood on a narrow ledge of rock that overlooked 
 a great scope of country to the east. He believed that 
 somewhere in the flat land before him Freeman's company 
 had gone into bivouac ; but there was no speck of light 
 anywhere on earth. He started again, bending his way 
 westward, Squire close behind him. Neither spoke. For 
 a hundred yards thick bushes gave them difficulty ; then 
 they came out into a narrow cowpath. 
 
 " Now, Squire, you must lead again," said West, laying 
 his hand firmly on the old man's shoulder.
 
 246 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Wat I hatto do, Mahs Usheh ? " asked the negro, 
 excitedly. 
 
 " I'll tell you. Right over yonder, not a quarter, you'll 
 see a shanty. I want you to go to it, and go round it, 
 and coine back. I want to know who's there." 
 
 " Yassah ; how I gwine to fine out ef anybody's in 
 dah ? Want me to knock at de do' ? " 
 
 "No; you just go all around, and find out if every- 
 thing's quiet, and come back to me. I'll do the balance." 
 
 " De' ain't no dawgs dah, Mahs Usheh ? " 
 
 West laughed. " No, there's no dog there. It wouldn't 
 do to keep one a minute. Go on, Squire ; we must try 
 to get some sleep before day ; I'll not be far behind you." 
 
 The old man went slowly on, his reluctant steps almost 
 noiseless to West even as he started. Squire had not re- 
 covered from the fright that his superstitious mind had 
 taken on the night at Gettysburg. Armstrong, Morgan, 
 Sency, and Lewis had all endeavoured to laugh and rea- 
 son his fears away ; but neither laughter nor simple rea- 
 soning could have effect against a credulity stronger than 
 faith. Squire still felt himself doomed, though he must 
 have been compelled to admit his own wonder that he 
 had survived so long. 
 
 The negro approached a log hut ; in his front he saw 
 an open window shutter, and a door partly open. Lying 
 about the place were half a dozen cows ; he walked very 
 near them, but they did not stir. There was scarcely a 
 sound. No fence obstructed, and he stole to the back of 
 the house, keeping his distance, however. He had not 
 asked West many questions, inferring that the hut was
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 247 
 
 the residence or temporary quarters of some one that 
 West knew and wished to see ; furthermore, he supposed 
 that West wanted to learn whether his approach would 
 be attended with danger, both of which suppositions 
 were thoroughly correct. 
 
 Squire completed his circuit, getting momentarily 
 nearer to the lone dwelling, until, when again he stood 
 in front, his sense of insecurity had been greatly lessened ; 
 he had been all round there seemed no danger here. 
 He came nearer the door, and heard heavy breathing 
 within ; he returned to West and reported. 
 
 " Now, Squire, stick right behind me and keep a good 
 lookout while I talk with that man in there." 
 
 Squire took stand; West went to the door and tapped. 
 The breathing stopped. 
 
 West tapped again, and then made a peculiar noise by 
 scraping with his nails against the door. Presently the 
 door swung wide open. 
 
 " Who is it ? " said a low voice within. 
 
 " Come out, Swain," said West, recognizing the voice. 
 
 " You, Usher ? I thought you were in Maryland. The 
 boys have been anxious about you. Glad you've come ; 
 I've been expecting some one." 
 
 Swain followed West into the woods, going past Squire 
 who was bidden to remain at watch. Fifty yards from 
 the path they halted, and Swain threw himself on the 
 ground. He was barefoot, and in his shirt sleeves 
 seemingly in the garb in which he had slept. 
 
 "Freeman's cavalry are down yonder," said West, as 
 he sat down.
 
 248 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Freeman ? Possibly ; and many more. Whole bri- 
 gades of them have gone on toward Snicker's." 
 
 " Where are your arms ? " asked Usher. 
 
 " Oh, out yonder," waving his hand ; " I'd have slept 
 out, too, but for thinking some of you would want to find 
 me." 
 
 " Been anywhere, Swain ? " 
 
 " Just come from the river, or as near as I could get 
 to it. God ! How sleepy I am ! " and Swain gave an 
 immense yawn. 
 
 " Well, out with it. Stuart and Lee want to 
 know." 
 
 " What ! You come from the army ? " and Swain sat 
 up straight, with sudden alertness. 
 
 " Yes ; Stuart has sent men over here, and I came with 
 'em. We've got to find out and report what Mr. Meade 
 is about, and then go on to the major. Tell me what you 
 saw at the river." 
 
 " Saw ? From the top of Loudoun Height I saw more 
 men at one time than all General Lee's army." 
 
 " On this side ? " 
 
 " No about half on this side ; the others coming," 
 said Swain. 
 
 "That's all I want to know. You've saved me a lot 
 of hard work, Swain. Saw 'em this morning? " 
 
 " Yes, and they kept coming in two columns, one 
 toward Hillsborough, and the other from Berlin. I can't 
 say for certain, but I believe all of Meade's army will be on 
 this side by to-morrow night. I saw at least half of it, 
 I should think, and they were marching south, evidently
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 249 
 
 to make room for more camping in Sweet Run Valley," 
 and Swain once more lay back on his elbow. 
 
 " You say cavalry has gone to Snicker's ? " 
 
 " Gone in that direction ; I haven't been there. Lord ! 
 How sleepy I am ! " 
 
 " And where is the major ? " West asked. 
 
 " At . . . well," says Swain, yawning drearily, " I 
 name no names. Remember where we found him on the 
 fifteenth of last month ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " He's there and will be there till next Saturday, unless 
 something disturbs his plans. You know who looks out 
 for him there, don't you ? " 
 
 " Yes ; hadn't you better be a-movin' ? " 
 
 Swain was silent, and Usher repeated the question, 
 shaking his companion's knees. " Oh, I heard you ; 
 I wasn't asleep," Swain said. "I thought I'd make a 
 start to-morrow. I certainly must get away before all 
 that infantry shuts me off." 
 
 " How long you been here ? " 
 
 "Relieved Simpson on the fourteenth." 
 
 " And you are to go without being relieved ? " 
 
 " Yes I'll report to the major, and if he wants to send 
 me back, well and good; but Meade's advance makes 
 this post useless, and another on Bull Run the necessary 
 thing." The last words had been said in tones of in- 
 creasing sleepiness ; perhaps Usher guessed them from 
 their connection. 
 
 " Why not go with us ? " 
 
 " Well, I take it, Usher, that a man's a good deal safer
 
 250 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 at this moment by himself than in a crowd. Now, you 
 and your friends could hardly be seen without suspicion, 
 while I am the most innocent clodhopper in the whole 
 range." Swain's words were now clear, and his tones 
 were evidence that two seconds of sleep had reenforced 
 him. 
 
 West yawned. 
 
 " Whose darky is that you have with you ? " Swain 
 asked. 
 
 " Armstrong's," and Usher's voice dropped heavily on 
 the second syllable. 
 
 " What Armstrong ? Wake up, Usher ! I don't like 
 darkies. Not one in ten but will give you away." 
 
 "Charley. Lives down Middleburg way you ought 
 to know him. True as steel." 
 
 "But I don't know him, even though I ought. Will 
 you come in and share my straw pile ? " 
 
 " Not if I know myself. Much obliged, old man ; but 
 it's a long shot safer in the woods. I've got to make 
 tracks at daylight so as to get back to my folks ; they're 
 hid over yonder by the knob. Got two signal men with 
 us and say, you know George Sency, don't you ? " 
 
 "Man that was with us last month? struck up with 
 us over the river, didn't he ? " 
 
 " Yes, he's along. You won't go with us ? " 
 
 "No, none of your madding and gadding crowd for 
 me; I prefer to risk it alone." 
 
 The men had risen and were walking toward the hut. 
 
 " Well, if you won't go, I hope to see you next week ; 
 you know what Meade's advance means."
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 251 
 
 " Yes the Rappahannock," returned Swain. 
 
 " And plenty of game in his rear." 
 
 " Exactly. I'll be on hand if I keep a whole skin." 
 
 "Good-by, Swain." 
 
 " Good-by," and the two men clasped hands. 
 
 West and Squire plunged again into the woods, but 
 soon halted. It was past midnight, and sleep was neces- 
 sary. The cautious partisan pointed out a dense clump 
 of cedar bushes and commanded the negro to take his 
 rest ; as for himself, he chose different quarters even 
 this little force must be divided lest by untoward acci- 
 dent disaster befall them both. He explained to Squire 
 that Meade's army had crossed the river, and commanded 
 that, in case he should be compelled at daylight to run 
 for it, he must make his way back to Morgan with his 
 information. Then he went some ten rods from Squire 
 and slept. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Captain Freeman's uneasiness had not been entirely 
 relieved by the departure of the squad under Corporal 
 Cliff, and he decided to send out single scouts north- 
 westward. He commanded Sergeant Walker to summon 
 privates Hawley and Beecher. 
 
 " Men," he said, when they stood before him, " I want 
 you two to see that we shan't be surprised from that 
 mountain," pointing. "I know it's not your time for 
 duty, but I have chosen you because I need good men, 
 and I'm going to give you full credit with interest for 
 what you do to-night. Hawley, leave your horse and 
 arms, except your pistols, and go in that direction ; go
 
 252 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 two miles, or at least a mile and a half, and hold your- 
 self quiet there until sunrise unless you find something. 
 Beecher, you do just as Hawley, only you must go more 
 to the north understand, both of you ? " 
 
 " How far apart should we be, Captain, when we take a 
 stand ? " asked Hawley. 
 
 "Well, say half a mile, and go at once." 
 
 They started and held together until they reached the 
 picket-post. Here they agreed on separate directions, 
 determined by two stars, and proceeded apart. 
 
 Private Hawley went straight northwest, that is to 
 say, as straight as he could go, considering the obstacles 
 that lay in his course. This man was thought to be the 
 best scout in Freeman's ranks, and he valued his honours. 
 Moreover, he had courage as well as skill, yet on this 
 night he regarded the work outlined for him superfluous ; 
 the enemy were known to be west of the Shenandoah, 
 cavalry and all, so his courage was not even to be tested, 
 and he went along utterly void of apprehension. Of 
 course, he would obey orders. He would reach a point 
 on the mountain a mile and a half away, or such a matter, 
 and would take his stand, and remain till sunrise ; but he 
 yawned as he went, for he had been waked from sound 
 and insufficient sleep. 
 
 At length he decided that he had come far enough; 
 he leaned for a while against a tree. Out here on the 
 wooded mountain there was nothing to interest him ; 
 even the stars could not be seen. The night was very 
 calm. Hawley's sense of security and the utter useless- 
 ness of this duty yielded in no degree to loneliness and
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 253 
 
 the mystery of a place that would perhaps have made 
 timid men more timid. He had no fears ; he sat down, 
 and when he waked the daylight was beginning to show. 
 He rose, stretched himself awhile, and began to walk 
 slowly away. By the time he should get anywhere, at 
 this slow rate, the sun would rise. He had begun really, 
 though he did not admit it, to return to camp. 
 
 A dense clump of cedar bushes obstructed his way . . . 
 he moved around ... he started back, and his hand went 
 to his pistol. Then stooping, he saw under the spreading 
 boughs. " Come out o' that ! " he cried, and old Squire 
 crawled out, shivering with fear. 
 
 Hawley had covered the negro with his pistol, but at 
 once had compassion, for the old man's terror was painful 
 even to him who caused it. 
 
 " Mahsta, I ain't a-doin' nothin' wrong ; I dess be'n 
 a-sleepin' heah, Mahsta." 
 
 " Who are you ? Where do you belong ? " 
 
 The lowering of the pistol had restored to Squire some 
 degree of reason. His first thought had been that his im- 
 pending death was here ; had the muzzle still threatened, 
 perhaps his paroxysms of continued terror would have 
 brought complete confession through inability to devise 
 any theory of self-defence ; but now, with a possibility 
 manifest that clemency was not repugnant to his captor, 
 his mind went to the fact that Freeman was near, and to 
 the likelihood that this Federal was one of Freeman's men. 
 
 " Me ? I ain't nobody but ole John, Mahsta ! I dess 
 be'n out sheah a-lookin' up de cows in de mounting ; ain't 
 shu seed some stray cows, Mahsta ? "
 
 254 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Cows be damned ! You get before me and march." 
 
 " Yassah ; w'ich a-way you want me to go, Mahsta ? " 
 and at each word old Squire's voice was higher, and he 
 seemed on the point of breaking hysterically. 
 
 " Down the mountain ! That way ! Turn, now, and 
 step out quick ! " 
 
 " Suppose you turn ! " said a low voice just behind 
 him. 
 
 Impossible not to obey ; impossible, as well, not to 
 obey West's further commands. Hawley threw down his 
 pistol, which West kicked toward Squire who at once 
 seized upon it. Then the Federal's other pistol was 
 demanded. 
 
 There was now the broad light of day. 
 
 West reflected ; then he said, " Squire, you know 
 but come here." 
 
 At the word Squire both Hawley and the negro had 
 started, the one with recognition, the other with fear of 
 contingencies in the unknown future. Possibly the old 
 man would not have sorrowed had West slain his prisoner 
 on the spot. 
 
 Squire came near, and West, with finger on trigger 
 and eye on his captive, whispered, " Go to the house and 
 tell Mr. Swain to get away ; tell him about this business : 
 hurry ! " 
 
 Squire darted through the bushes. 
 
 " Well, what do you mean by this caper ? " asked 
 Hawley. 
 
 " I mean to prevent you from interfering with my busi- 
 ness," was the reply.
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 255 
 
 "Yes, and you'll ketch hell for it. I'm obeyin' my 
 orders, and you're opposing the authorities of the United 
 States, and you'll ketch hell for it." 
 
 West kept his temper ; he saw that his own quality 
 was a matter of doubt to the Federal, and he had no wish 
 to relieve the doubt as yet. 
 
 " You'll ketch hell ! And I'll tell you another thing, 
 young man ; your neighbours will ketch hell, too, for 
 what you're doing." 
 
 Hawley still thought that his captor, in ordinary farm- 
 er's clothing, was some dweller on this mountain, yet he 
 was by no means sure ; he knew that the clothes do not 
 make the man ; if he must remain a prisoner he preferred 
 to be in the hands of a soldier ; it would be hard to con- 
 fess to his comrades that he had yielded to a single civilian. 
 And if Hawley was in a quandary, the Confederate 
 was in a worse one always excepting the immediate 
 danger pertinent to the situation. He knew not what 
 to do with the Federal, and he knew not what declaration 
 to make of his own character. To allow the man his 
 liberty, would be to invite distress upon the people. 
 Hawley had spoken but too truly : West knew that the 
 neighbours would ketch hell for this deed. Should the 
 prisoner be held, Freeman would miss his man, would 
 suspect the work of bushwhackers, soon or late would 
 take vengeance on the community that tolerated such ; 
 on the other hand, if the prisoner should be turned loose 
 he would at once report and the same consequences would 
 ensue. But West must decide, and he decided. 
 
 " Then I shall not let you go very easily," he said.
 
 256 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " What you goin' to do with me ? " demanded the 
 Federal. 
 
 " I shall send you to Lee's army as a prisoner." 
 
 "Pretty big job for one man," says Hawley, with 
 something like defiance. 
 
 " One man ? You'll soon see." 
 
 West's mind had formed its scheme. He continued : 
 " You think me a citizen ? I am a regularly enlisted 
 soldier of the Confederate States." 
 
 " Then you are a spy. " 
 
 " No ; I am no spy. I have not been in your lines. 
 But there's no use in this talk ; you go with me."" 
 
 Squire came up breathless. 
 
 " Everything all right, Squire ? " 
 
 "Yassah." 
 
 West ordered his prisoner to march in front and fol- 
 lowed with drawn pistol, and in less than an hour brought 
 him into the presence of Morgan's men. 
 
 If the Federal was astonished to find himself in the 
 hands of half a dozen well-equipped rebel cavalrymen, he 
 gave no intimation of such feeling. Truth was that he 
 much preferred his present situation to what he had 
 feared, for his mind had been full of the possibility of 
 bad treatment from bushwhackers, but from the moment 
 of his seeing Sergeant Morgan he felt safe, for he recog- 
 nized in him the prisoner who had escaped from Free- 
 man on the night of the 6th, and that prisoner, certainly, 
 had been no bushwhacker. So, too, had Morgan recog- 
 nized Hawley, even at once ; for the sergeant, being told 
 that Freeman's company was near, felt greater interest in
 
 IN THE MOUNTAINS 257 
 
 his individual enemies than the Federal could have pre- 
 viously had. Yet neither of these experienced soldiers 
 thought it wise to betray the fact that he knew the other. 
 
 Morgan and West held a council, and it was decided 
 that the imperative duty resting upon the signal men in 
 consequence of the alarming news of Meade's advance 
 prohibited their encumbering themselves with a prisoner ; 
 the signal men must get to their work at once, and the 
 captive could not be taken to Lee's army. Moreover, 
 West was strong in his opinion that Hawley should be 
 paroled. 
 
 " Of course, Sergeant, I know he won't observe any 
 such parole ; but it will have an effect. He will be more 
 than ever convinced that we are not bushwhackers. What 
 I want, Morgan, is to give him no cause to harry the peo- 
 ple ; he has already said the neighbours are going to ketch 
 hell for my work." 
 
 " We cannot keep him," said Morgan. 
 
 The signal men were getting ready ; they would return 
 to the spot pointed out on the preceding day, wave their 
 information, which their comrades would repeat, and then 
 would recross the river, for both Morgan and West had 
 complete confidence that Swain's news was valid and con- 
 clusive. As for Morgan and his men, the very contin- 
 gency that had come would cause their remaining in 
 Loudoun, Stuart having commanded that in case of 
 Meade's advance the sergeant's little force should not 
 attempt to overtake Lee's army, which would at once 
 march up the Valley ; but should, on the contrary, attach 
 itself to Mosby, not only for its own protection, but also
 
 258 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 that strength should be added to the major's against the 
 Federals when they should have passed on to the Rappa- 
 hannock. No, it was impossible to hold the prisoner. 
 
 " Well, Usher, we'll let him loose on parole ; but sup- 
 pose he won't accept ? " 
 
 " Then we must let him escape," said West. 
 
 But Hawley showed no reluctance to give his parole, 
 which in duplicate was written out in form as accurate as 
 the sergeant could remember, and was willingly signed. 
 
 So Hawley started eastward afoot, and at once Morgan's 
 party began to move south, while the signal men went 
 west, Morgan intent upon heading around Freeman and 
 all other Federals, and getting to Mosby before the enemy's 
 advance should cut him off. 
 
 And Squire had little comfort in the knowledge that his 
 own name would once more get to Freeman's ears.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 A HOME-COMING 
 
 " What think you ? have you beheld, 
 Or have you read or heard ? or could you think ? 
 Or do you almost think, although you see 
 That you do see ? Could thought, without this object, 
 Form such another ? " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 MEADE'S advance was pushed without opposition to 
 Warrenton, where his headquarters were established on 
 the 24th. On the same day General Lee, with Long- 
 street's corps, reached Culpeper. On the night of the 
 18th, while Freeman's small force had been in bivouac 
 near Hillsborough, Pleasonton's cavalry held Snickers- 
 ville, Bloom field, and Upper ville, and a brigade had 
 already passed on to occupy Ashby's Gap. 
 
 Before Morgan and his men had ridden three miles on 
 the morning of the 19th they learned from citizens that 
 Snickersville was in the hands of the Federals, with the 
 whole country near the eastern slope of the Ridge under 
 their power. Too great discretion might have determined 
 the little party to remain hidden in the mountains until 
 night, but West was confident that he could get across the 
 roads on which the bodies of Federals were moving. He 
 
 269
 
 260 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 reasoned that as yet the eastern side of Loudoun Valley was 
 comparatively clear of the Federals, so that the only great 
 danger of the journey would come almost at the start; 
 better make the movement at once ; the delay of a few 
 hours might fill the Valley with enemies. Morgan also 
 believed that once across the roads that connected the 
 gaps of the Blue Ridge the party might feel reasonably 
 safe ; while he shared but little in Usher's desire to 
 speedily join Mosby in order to make use of the great 
 opportunity for reaping glory and spoil when Meade's 
 army should have passed on to the Rappahannock, the 
 condition of his brother, whom it was now possible to see 
 again, had become a subject of deep interest, and he 
 required but little urging to take what proved in the end 
 a successful if not the wisest course. 
 
 In the meanwhile Private Hawley, after wandering 
 over the mountain as West had counted upon, succeeded 
 in reaching camp, where he found that the company had 
 marched to Purcellville, Captain Freeman having left 
 O'Donnell with orders to wait a given time for the 
 missing man. 
 
 " And it's yerself that's been getting yer purty face 
 torn and yer hands torn and yer breeches all torn, 
 and making the captain as mad as a hornet wid je." 
 
 "Couldn't help it, O'Donnell. I've seen hell, and I 
 don't know how it's going to end." 
 
 " Faith, and hell shall niver see the day whin she shuts 
 up shop." 
 
 " Do you know a man named Squire ? " Hawley's 
 intonation revealed certainty of the reply.
 
 A HOME-COMING 261 
 
 " That dam black naygur, ye mane ? " and O'Donnell's 
 eyes met his questioner's with a demand for more than 
 the words required. 
 
 " Yes, that's exactly who I mean. And I want to 
 know if you remember a man that you called your num- 
 ber eighteen." 
 
 " And hwat d'ye mane be assking me that, now ? Why 
 cahn't ye say hwat ye're going to say and have done with 
 ut?" 
 
 " Well, I've seen both of 'em, and I've seen more. 
 I'm a paroled prisoner," said Hawley, with dignity. 
 
 " D'ye mane ut ? " 
 
 "I mean it. I was in the hands of a party of six 
 rebels, and that nigger was with 'em, and they were 
 under Sergeant Morgan, and he's your number eigh- 
 teen. It's true, by ! " and Hawley held up his hand, 
 and looked very solemn. 
 
 "Arid how did ye get yerself caught, if ye plaise, 
 Misther Hawley?" 
 
 " To tell you the straight truth, O'Donnell, it was all 
 along o' that dam nigger," replied Hawley, shaking his 
 head. " I had him ; I got him dead, an' was bringing 
 him back, and all of a sudden I found myself looking 
 into the barrels of half a dozen carbines. I tell you the 
 fact, O'Donnell, I was never so skeered in all my life." 
 
 " The farchune of warr, Misther Hawley. And ye say, 
 do ye, that me f rind Squoire it was that paroled ye ? " 
 
 " Oh, go to hell ! You know better'n that." 
 
 " Oi do, sor ; Oi know betther ; but hwat Oi mane to 
 impress uponn ye, Misther Hawley, is that wanst ye
 
 262 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 spurned me wid ridicule whin Oi made me claim to that 
 same Squoire as me own take, and ye said ye had killed 
 him. Renumber that now, Misther Hawley ! " The 
 charge was delivered with a smile designed as a crusher. 
 
 " Yes, I'm compelled to admit that I was wrong in 
 that," returned Hawley ; " but I was telling you that 
 they paroled me." 
 
 " And ye say it was the inimy's cavalry it was that did 
 ye that koindness, Misther Hawley ? " 
 
 " Yes ; they were a squad of Stuart's men, I suppose. 
 Didn't you hear that Captain Freeman wormed it out of 
 Squire that he belonged to a man in Fitz Lee's brigade ? " 
 
 " Sure, and Oi've been told that same." 
 
 "I don't believe they knew what to do with me, 
 O'Donnell. At first I was afraid I'd got into a gang of 
 bushwhackers ; but they showed up all right, gray 
 uniforms, carbines, and everything. Same man you had 
 over yonder that same sergeant wouldn't give his 
 right name then Morgan's his name. I've got his 
 parole in my pocket, and he's got my name in his pocket ; 
 but if I've got any sense, his parole is not worth a dam, 
 and Freeman's not a-going to recognize it. I wish he 
 would, but he won't," and Hawley sighed. 
 
 " A sergeant, ye say ? And sure me number eightain 
 was a sergeant. But Oi tell ye that Captain Frayman is 
 not the man to swallow such a parole; no, no, Misther 
 Hawley, we're not to lose the great pleasure of yer 
 sosoity for anny sergeant's parole. Make up yer mind to 
 that at wanst, and save yerself from suspinse. And ye've 
 had good luck, Oi say, in getting away so loightly. Me
 
 A HOME-COMING 263 
 
 number eightain thraited ye mighty well intirely, Misther 
 Hawley ; did ye say they wor aiger for ye to go ? " 
 
 " I thought so. They were ready to move, and I thought 
 they wanted to get rid of me. There was one time when 
 I was afraid they'd put me out of the way ; they treated 
 me all right, though." 
 
 The foregoing version of the adventure was repeated 
 to Captain Freeman, who demanded Hawley's duplicate 
 parole and examined it. 
 
 " Aha ! First Virginia ! Then I suppose Fitz Lee's 
 crowd has crossed over. Sergeant D or is it a D? 
 Yes, a D. Sergeant D. Morgan, First Virginia cavalry. 
 Why, Hawley, this thing is not worth the paper it's writ- 
 ten on. You will get back to your duty, man." 
 
 " Then I must ask you to protect me in this, Captain." 
 
 " Protect ? I tell you to get back to your duty. A ser- 
 geant has no right to administer such an oath as this. Such 
 authority is high. It must come with high command. 
 If it should be the case that a man who violated such a 
 pretended thing as this were taken again and maltreated 
 in any way, General Meade himself would see after it." 
 
 " Yes, sir, I suppose so ; but it wouldn't do me very 
 much good if they had already shot me." 
 
 "Do you want me to assure you? My dear fellow, 
 just hold me responsible. But there's not a particle of 
 danger. And you're lucky in not being sent to some rebel 
 prison ; and if you feel ticklish about it, and happen to get 
 caught again, just follow that sergeant's example and give 
 'em some other name. Morgan Morgan," continued 
 Freeman, soliloquizing, " I'm not sure that's a D. It may
 
 264 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 be an O, or it may be a D, and more likely D than O. But 
 what does it matter?" Then, quickly, to Hawley, "You 
 say Squire was with these people ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " How can you be sure ? Did you see him when we had 
 him at Rowser's ? See him in good light ? " 
 
 " No, sir, I didn't see him there, except in the dark ; but 
 the rebels this morning called his name more than once." 
 
 "Ah ! By Jupiter, Morgan!" 
 
 Captain Freeman put the paper into his pocket-book ; 
 afterward he showed it to Lieutenant Brock, who also was 
 puzzled concerning the first initial. Brock thought the 
 letter was an L, with a long upward stroke to the tail. 
 The whole thing had been written with pencil, and 
 showed effects of unclean friction. 
 
 " Brock, there hasn't been a word from Lacy or about 
 him since we left him down yonder." 
 
 The lieutenant recognized in his own mind the associa- 
 tion of ideas that had called up Freeman's remark. The 
 name Morgan and the name Squire were coupled on this 
 day with as great distinctness as formerly they had been 
 by Dahlgren, and previously by Squire when he had 
 visited Freeman's bivouac with the purpose of arranging 
 for the delivery of the wounded Morgan. These com- 
 pound coincidences could not be accidental. 
 
 "It's a tangle, Captain." 
 
 " Don't you suppose Lacy's got away from West's long 
 ago?" 
 
 " It has been very nearly a month, sir, and the road to 
 Washington has been open all the time."
 
 A HOME-COMING 265 
 
 " But Doc wouldn't move an inch if he thought it would 
 hurt his patient." 
 
 " No, and he may be there yet. But would you suppose 
 that Lacy has found out that he's been nursing the wrong 
 man?" 
 
 " It wouldn't make a dam bit of difference ; he'd just 
 keep on with his nursing. And I'll tell you what I'm 
 going to do, Brock. Just as soon as we get in reach of 
 that place I'm going there, and, if I can't go, then I'll send 
 somebody. I'm going to see who that man **. It'll take 
 a positive order from Pleasonton to keep me back. And 
 if that nigger knows what's good for him, he'll never let 
 me lay hands on him again." 
 
 From Purcellville Captain Freeman marched his com- 
 mand to Philomont, and on the 22d he was ordered to 
 occupy Aldie, his scouts reporting the road clear. By this 
 time the most of Meade's infantry had passed south and 
 reached the line of the Manassas Gap railroad, and Free- 
 man was practically in the rear. And though the cap- 
 tain's duties were not light, extraordinary vigilance having 
 been urged by headquarters lest attacks be made upon the 
 long wagon trains by enterprising partisans supposed to 
 be ready to seize upon such prey, yet he found time to 
 keep his word so emphatically pronounced to Lieutenant 
 
 Brock. 
 
 ******* 
 
 By the virtue of hard riding at short times, long rests 
 at others, and close watching always, Usher West had suc- 
 ceeded in reaching the point in Goose Creek swamp near- 
 est his home, and had hidden his companions far from any
 
 266 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 road, Baxter, however, going on to see how the land lay 
 with his own people and affairs, and to learn, if possible, 
 the whereabouts and purposes of Major Mosby. 
 
 As night fell on the 23d West set out alone for home 
 alone, for although both Morgan and Armstrong were 
 intensely anxious concerning conditions at the farm-house, 
 yet it was felt that it would be too great a peril to be 
 seen by Lacy, who by all means must be prevented from 
 suspecting that Usher was other than he pretended to be. 
 So, in an hour's time, West had covered the distance and 
 had hitched his horse, and was approaching the rear of 
 the dwelling when he heard the sounds of riding and 
 men's voices in the front yard. He stopped short, but 
 soon felt confident that the men were leaving. He went 
 on and was about to go up the back steps when he 
 thought it possible that the departure of the visitors had 
 not been final. In this doubt he went round the house 
 toward the room his own which he knew the Federal 
 Morgan had occupied almost a month ago ; approached 
 the window through which Tom Baxter had spoken to 
 Dr. Lacy. Usher cursed his fate, and the Yankees yet 
 more, that he should be compelled to act like a thief at 
 his own father's door ; but secrecy had become a great 
 part of his profession, so that in itself the measure was 
 distasteful only because of the time and labour involved, 
 and he went on slyly past the window, beyond the light, 
 in order to make a complete circuit of the house, in which 
 he now heard the voices of strange men. He stood for a 
 short minute behind the corner of the dwelling, and saw 
 toward the front two horses hitched at the fence, and heard
 
 A HOME-COMING 267 
 
 the noise of hoofs down at the Aldie pike, and knew by 
 these combined sights and sounds that Federals were visit- 
 ing the house probably officers, for the men down at the 
 road had been stationed there as pickets, doubtless, to. 
 protect persons of importance. West now went on en- 
 tirely around the house. His sister's window was alight, 
 yet he feared to speak ; there might be guards out in 
 this direction. He went back to the lot and into the 
 farm road, and found all safe ; seemingly the front was 
 the only quarter concerning which the visitors felt any 
 fear. 
 
 He again came to the window of his room ; he bent 
 down and knelt, with all his body in the shadow ; he 
 could not see, but he could hear. 
 
 " Never was so astonished in my life." 
 
 "That is what every one says when he is surprised." 
 This voice the listener recognized at once as Dr. Lacy's. 
 
 " Yes, I know it ; but I maintain it. Never in all 
 my life have I heard a thing so surprising. Why, do 
 you know that I had your brother in my hands hardly 
 two weeks ago? Oh, he's a sharp one! Just slipped 
 through my hands like an eel. What do you think of it, 
 Brock?" 
 
 "Very much as you do, Captain. I've read of such 
 resemblances, but never gave them any credit." 
 
 "But, gentlemen," this was a new voice, and not 
 nearly so loud as the others, a voice familiar to Usher, 
 who, if he had not known otherwise, would have believed 
 that Sergeant Morgan was speaking, "gentlemen, if you 
 are so astonished, what do you think of my sensation ? "
 
 268 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 There was a laugh, and mingled with it the words of 
 the first speaker : " But won't I have one on Dahlgren ! 
 You know Dahlgren, Lieutenant ? " 
 
 " Yes ; what has he to do with it ? " 
 
 " Oh, by the way, I'm afraid we won't see the poor 
 fellow any more. He was knocked down over at Hagers- 
 town two weeks ago, and I'm told he has lost his leg." 
 
 "Ah? I'm exceedingly sorry to hear that. Indeed, I 
 am deeply grieved. There are many men of higher rank 
 that the army might better afford to lose. Poor old 
 fellow ; I've been with him in more than one close place. 
 And now he's done for ? " 
 
 " Completely out of the ring hereafter. But I started 
 to tell you about him. He met me over in Maryland the 
 day after we left you here, and swore that he had just 
 talked with you for fully an hour. Ha ! ha ! Knew all 
 about you ! Called you Junior." 
 
 " Now, come, Captain. He said a quarter of an 
 hour." 
 
 "No difference, Brock. An hour or a quarter it's 
 all one and the same. And he had a tale to tell about 
 meeting that old nigger Squire, who seems to be your 
 precious rebel brother's shadow and the old rascal did 
 nothing but confirm what Dahlgren thought he knew. 
 I must find Dahlgren's address." 
 
 " That Squire is a remarkable man," drawled Lacy. " I 
 am told by the ... I am told that he is noted through- 
 out this county for more than one quality." 
 
 " He got away from my men at Rowser's, and he de- 
 ceived Dahlgren, and the other day he turned up again,
 
 A HOME-COMING 269 
 
 still following your brother, Lieutenant. Your brother, 
 who seems to be a sergeant, caught one of my men, who 
 had previously caught Squire ; and then the sergeant 
 paroles my man by the way, I have that document. 
 . . . Here it is. Of course I couldn't recognize such 
 an irregular thing." 
 
 There was silence now. . . . 
 
 " Let me see that paper," said the doctor. ... " What 
 is the irregularity here, Freeman ? " 
 
 " In the fact that a sergeant exacts a parole." 
 
 " And you have ordered the man not to observe this ? " 
 
 " Yes, certainly, Doc ; would you observe such a 
 thing?" 
 
 " I think that if I were a prisoner, and in order to be 
 released I gave my pledge to fight no more till exchanged, 
 I should keep my word," said Lacy, with some heat. 
 
 "I'll leave it to Lieutenant Morgan himself. He 
 knows something about such authority. Has a sergeant, 
 in command of a squad out on a scout, the authority to 
 grant and accept paroles ? " 
 
 "No," said Morgan, slowly, "unless such authority 
 has been expressly delegated ; and even then I should 
 hesitate to declare that a non-commissioned officer would 
 have such power." 
 
 "Stuart himself took four hundred of our men 1 
 believe it was on the very day Dahlgren met you your 
 brother, I mean in Maryland," exclaimed the captain, 
 "and he paroled them, and our authorities ordered the 
 men back to duty." 
 
 "I suppose that was decided upon the ground that
 
 270 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Stuart couldn't keep them, and by paroling them was 
 endeavouring to benefit himself and not us," said Brock. 
 
 "Then your man is not to observe this agreement, 
 Freeman ? " 
 
 " Not in the least, Doc. He's already back in the 
 ranks, and is doing full duty. What's the matter with 
 you, now ? " 
 
 " I was merely thinking of the ox and bull story, Free- 
 man." 
 
 " What's that got to do with it ? " 
 
 " Why, sir, you agreed to a truce with this very Ser- 
 geant Morgan ; now it seems to me that the power to 
 negotiate a truce should be great enough to make paroles." 
 
 " Ah, Doc, you're nothing if not argumentative. 
 But are you sure that the man who required us to 
 come under flag for the lieutenant was the lieutenant's 
 duplicate ? " 
 
 "Sure." 
 
 "But don't you see, Doc, that in the first case he 
 grants us a privilege which we accept, and in the second 
 he makes an unlawful demand upon us? He requires 
 that we neutralize a force which it was impossible for him 
 to withhold from us. He couldn't keep Hawley, and, 
 being the brother of our friend here, why, he couldn't 
 kill Hawley, so he assumes an authority and paroles him, 
 and his parole is not binding." 
 
 " Captain Freeman, was the truce binding ? " 
 
 " No, certainly not. I'll leave it to the lieutenant ; he 
 has been at headquarters long enough to know all about 
 such matters. What do you say, Lieutenant ? "
 
 A HOME-COMING 271 
 
 "I should question its force. Of course, however, it 
 had a force outside of its formal aspect. For instance, if 
 Sergeant Morgan had laid ambush for you, and under 
 colour of truce had inveigled you into it and taken your 
 company, or fought you at disadvantage, why then great 
 complications would have resulted. No doubt our gen- 
 erals would have retaliated in some way, and our plea 
 would have been that the truce had been taken by us as 
 offered in good faith." 
 
 " Yes, but that doesn't show that a sergeant has the 
 right to parole a prisoner," insisted Freeman. 
 
 " But if we do not keep our agreement with him, how 
 can we expect him to keep his with us ? " asked Lacy. 
 
 " Oh, that old matter is ended. Besides, it never did 
 rise to the dignity of a truce. It was simply a matter 
 of an hour, and for one purpose accomplished within that 
 hour." 
 
 " Then my patient is liable to seizure at any moment ? " 
 
 " Certainly. Why should you think he is not, Doc ? " 
 
 "Mr. West and I discussed this matter when I first 
 came here, gentlemen, and our conclusion was that the 
 truce would not be at an end until its purpose was accom- 
 plished, which was the safe removal of Lieutenant 
 Morgan. We accepted a truce offered by the Confeder- 
 ates ; but you see other Confederates Stuart and his 
 troops intervened between us and safety, and we were 
 forced to stop here. Mr. West's mind was in a conflict, 
 gentlemen. He is firm for the South, and debated whether 
 he ought not to inform the nearest Confederates in order 
 that my patient's parole might be demanded ; but he
 
 272 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 withheld because of our discussion, which seemed to him 
 convincing." 
 
 " I'll warrant," cried Freeman, laughing. 
 
 " But now," said Lacy, very slowly, " now I find it my 
 duty to notify Mr. West that our conclusion was wrong, 
 and that he is at liberty to get Morgan captured." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! Just like you, old man. But you are 
 all right now. Did you expect your truce to be eternal ? " 
 
 " I know what you would say, Freeman ; you would 
 say that even from my view I ought to have continued 
 my journey just as soon as Stuart gave the road ; but you 
 must remember that we had been forced to abandon our 
 means, and were unable to proceed." 
 
 " Well, it doesn't matter now, Doc. West will hardly 
 make any extra exertions in the present state of affairs. 
 Lee is thrown back, and you're in no danger. When can 
 the lieutenant be moved safely ? " 
 
 " He might be moved at once, if necessary ; but he is 
 comfortable enough here, and it would be well to wait 
 until his bones knit more firmly, say two or three weeks." 
 
 "Well, Doc, you needn't fear to stay. By all means 
 tell West if your conscience needs relief. And now we 
 must be going. Lieutenant, it is clear that that brother 
 of yours is a character. He grants truces, and accepts 
 paroles, and goes through Maryland alone where he 
 deceives General Meade's staff, is captured and escapes, 
 and he bobs up over here in Loudoun wonder if he 
 isn't somewhere near us now. Good-by, and don't let 
 Lacy talk you to death. If we get any more mail for you, 
 we'll send it over."
 
 A HOME-COMING 273 
 
 There was shuffling of feet; West slipped back and 
 remained in shadow until he had heard them strike the 
 main road and turn eastward. Then he went to his 
 sister's window. She was bending over her work, in the 
 dim light of a tallow candle, her face toward him. His 
 father sat with his back to the light, reading, his arms 
 wide-stretched, holding a newspaper which doubtless one 
 of the Federal officers had brought to Lacy. Jennie's 
 stitches were regular and rapid. Usher fancied that she 
 was in serious thought her sewing seemed automatic. 
 
 A face showed at the door Lacy's. The doctor came 
 in and stood before Mr. West. 
 
 "Here is the Herald, sir, three days old, and the 
 Chronicle of yesterday." 
 
 " Thank you, Doctor ; your friends have gone ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Jennie had not ceased her work, neither had she other- 
 wise changed, except that her eyes for one instant had 
 turned toward the door. To Usher she looked very pale. 
 
 The doctor withdrew ; relations with the family seemed 
 to have become quite familiar. 
 
 Usher came nearer and stood at the window, his face in 
 the full light, unobserved for a moment ; then he coughed. 
 
 " Oh ! " she exclaimed, greatly startled ; but at once 
 she knew, and threw down her work, springing forward. 
 Mr. West was deep in his paper. 
 
 " Oh, Usher, I'm so glad ! " 
 
 Mr. West turned and saw, but he kept his seat. He 
 waved his hand peculiarly, put his finger to his lips, an/ 
 shook his head.
 
 274 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Jennie retreated, and Usher went into the back yard. 
 She seized his hands and kissed him. 
 
 "You are not safe here. Two officers have just gone." 
 
 " I know, Jennie, and I can't sleep here ; but I'm com- 
 ing to breakfast." 
 
 " Where have you been so long ? " 
 
 " Over the river, Jennie ; I've got some of the boys 
 hidden out, and I must get back. Guess who are with 
 me," he said, patting her cheek. 
 
 " Oh, I can't guess. Tell me." 
 
 "Have you heard that Charley Armstrong was hurt? " 
 
 "No, we haven't heard a word of anything, except 
 that General Lee is in the Valley. Was Charley wounded 
 badly?" Her voice had not changed. 
 
 " You are a cool girl. No, knocked on the head with 
 a sabre, that's all. He is with me, and is fretting to see 
 you, but we don't dare let him come up. And Dan 
 Morgan is with me, too." 
 
 "Oh, what a story! Now, Usher, you're not in 
 earnest." 
 
 "Yes, it's no time to be joking. He's here." 
 
 " Does he know his brother is here ? " she asked. 
 
 " Oh, yes, and may try to see him ; but he may be 
 satisfied when I tell him he's getting along all right. 
 I've been here an hour, and heard the talk in my room." 
 
 " How could you be so rash ? Usher, I'm so afraid 
 for you to come to breakfast," and she caught his hand 
 again. 
 
 " I'm coming all the same ; haven't had a thing to eat 
 in two weeks. There's not a Yankee nearer than Aldie."
 
 A HOME-COMING 275 
 
 "But they are passing all the time. Please don't 
 come to the house. I'll bring a basket for you down 
 to the spring-house." 
 
 " No, I'm coming ; and I want your basket, too. My 
 gang's got to be fed. Say, Jennie, do you have any 
 aelp?" 
 
 "Nobody but Father," she sighed. 
 
 " Well, Armstrong's got old Squire along, and I don't 
 see why he shouldn't come up. We've got to be fed 
 and the old man, too, and I'm going to send him up." 
 
 "But I'd hate to take him, Usher; don't do it." 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " His master will need him," she said, in a strained 
 voice. 
 
 "You little cheat, you know Charley will jump for 
 joy to send old Squire up here to help you; and I'm 
 going to do it." 
 
 She gave no reply, and her silence struck West as 
 very singular." 
 
 "I'm going to send him up, Jennie." 
 
 "Not at my request," she said weakly. 
 
 " But the more I think of it the more it seems neces- 
 sary. You see we don't know how long we are going 
 to be compelled to hang around here, and old Squire 
 can be more help to us all up here than he can anywhere 
 else. We'll make him bring you lots o' things, and he'll 
 be lots o' help to you and to us, so don't you say another 
 word; I'll fix it." 
 
 " Who else is with you ? " 
 
 "You know George Sency and Joe Lewis?"
 
 276 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "No; I've heard the names, though, from Mr. Arm- 
 strong." 
 
 " Mister Armstrong ! Well, I won't tell Charley. 
 Jennie, Dan's brother will go away soon. I heard that 
 much from Dr. Lacy. Then I hope you'll get along. 
 I know you are having a hard time, but it won't last 
 long now two or three weeks, Lacy says. Good-by ; 
 look for me at breakfast."
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 
 
 " Like perspectives, which rightly gazed upon 
 Show nothing but confusion, eyed awry 
 Distinguish form." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 MOSBY was biding his time. 
 
 When Dr. Lacy came in to breakfast, he found himself 
 a little late. 
 
 " Why, good morning," he exclaimed. " So you are 
 back home again." 
 
 " Yes, Doctor," says Usher, rising and shaking hands, 
 " and I wish I could stay. I reckon I'll be compelled to 
 stay. How I'm going to get back now would puzzle a 
 Philadelphia lawyer. Can't you give me a pass through 
 your lines ? " he asked, without the shadow of duplicity 
 in his voice. 
 
 "Ah, sir," replied the doctor, shaking his head, "I 
 doubt that my signature would have the effect you wish. 
 Do you remember our agreement ? " 
 
 " Our agreement, Doctor ? Let me see . . . what was 
 it?" 
 
 " I was to say nothing about your being here, and you 
 were to protect me from your people." 
 
 " I'll stand by that, Doctor, till the cows come home. 
 
 277
 
 278 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 And I'll do more : you just get me a pass back to my 
 regiment, and blest if I don't see that you get safe to 
 Fairfax," and Usher's tones were as earnest as his words 
 were guileful. 
 
 " How is Lieutenant Morgan, Doctor ? " asked Mr. 
 West. 
 
 " Quite bright this morning. His visitors did him good 
 last night. I suppose I ought to tell you, Mr. West, that 
 I hold you no longer to silence in regard to our stay 
 here." 
 
 " And what may be your meaning, sir ? " 
 
 " I mean that last night I was overruled about the truce 
 which you and I discussed when I came here. I am told 
 that the truce is not binding, having been without compe- 
 tent authority ; so I relieve you entirely of any obligation 
 to protect us." 
 
 Mr. West's smile was very grave. 
 
 " But I step into my father's old shoes," cried Usher, 
 fully prepared with speech. " I don't care a dried apple 
 for the authority so long as the truce is agreed to. I'd 
 stand by a conscript's truce if it had been accepted and 
 acted upon. I'll tell you, Doctor, what we'll do : you 
 just keep mum and say nothing to Father about it, and 
 you and I'll fix up a scheme that'll land you safe and me 
 too. Do you know where I've been ? " 
 
 "No, I am utterly ignorant of the cause of your 
 absence ; you have been visiting friends, I supposed," 
 said Lacy, somewhat dubiously. 
 
 " Yes, Doctor, and the friends I visited are not entirely 
 helpless, although your folks do hold the high hand.
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 279 
 
 There are a dozen men on furlough within five miles of 
 this spot, and I can get them to come here if need be and 
 see you safe." 
 
 Lacy shook his head. " I prefer quiet," he said ; 
 " excitement is what I wish to avoid. Lieutenant Morgan 
 is doing very well better here perhaps than he would 
 be in Washington. No, I want nothing said though I 
 admit again that I have no right to make any demand. 
 Not that I reject your help, sir, for which I thank you ; 
 but, of course, I understand that your suggestion is mere 
 pleasantry in regard to my helping you to get into your 
 lines." 
 
 "Pleasantry? Never was more serious in my life, 
 Doctor." 
 
 "Miss Jennie, can you tell me whether he is really 
 serious ? " 
 
 "No, Doctor ; he is simply an incurable tease." 
 
 "But, Dr. Lacy," exclaimed Usher, "don't you see 
 that everything is altered since our last agreement? 
 Then you had a wounded man unfit for service. To offer 
 you help then, surely is not like offering it now. Then I 
 was not proposing anything against the Confederacy ; but 
 now you have here an important officer, almost ready to 
 rejoin his command and go to fighting us again. Do I 
 ask too much of you when I propose that for the safety of 
 this important officer you provide for the safety of a man 
 in the ranks ? Why, bless your life, it's like General 
 Lee's exchanging back the officers we caught for privates 
 you caught man for man ! " 
 
 Jennie looked at her brother in wonder ; his voice had
 
 280 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 risen, and she feared that he was feeling in reality what 
 he had begun in jest. And Doctor Lacy, too, seemed 
 more than usually grave ; outside of all relations, the 
 underlying truth of Usher's false position was evident, 
 though the surgeon was not convinced that the sol- 
 dier's proposal had been serious. He must answer, how- 
 ever. 
 
 " But there is no prisoner to be exchanged upon the 
 one side or the other ; and as for exchanges, it takes the 
 authorities at Washington and Richmond to decide such 
 high matters : even the generals have no authority 
 therein. Of course, if you were a prisoner and Lieutenant 
 Morgan a prisoner, I should be greatly delighted to see 
 you both exchanged. But we have nothing to do with 
 such matters, and I have no power to see you safe into 
 your lines." 
 
 The doctor's tones discovered annoyance, and Jennie's 
 countenance showed uneasiness if not displeasure, yet 
 young West refused to abandon the subject. 
 
 " And what would you say is my duty in regard to 
 Lieutenant Morgan, sir ? " 
 
 The question was powerful ; Lacy hesitated. " Regard- 
 ing you as a man the answer is easy," he said at last, 
 " and the conduct of this generous family has been that 
 answer ; but as a soldier in the Confederate army, you 
 must pardon me for not advising you in connection with 
 your duties." 
 
 Lacy went back to his patient, and Jennie gave Usher a 
 basket. Mr. West was compelled to be busy at the farm, 
 or see all his labours lack.
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 281 
 
 " Usher, please don't worry Dr. Lacy any more ; it 
 doesn't seem right." 
 
 " Self-protection, little Sis ; you see I've got to keep 
 him convinced that I'm in Lee's army. It won't do at all 
 for him to get the notion that I'm with the major ; if he 
 gets that notion, I'll have to keep away." 
 
 " But he'd never tell ! " 
 
 " I don't know what he'd do ; he's not the sort of man 
 that's always keeping watch of his words. He's an inno- 
 cent baby, and we've got to give him words to say." 
 
 "Well, they'll be going away soon," she said, and 
 sighed. 
 
 " Yes, and then I can bring my friends here at least 
 sometimes. If it wasn't for these people here, Jennie, we 
 could come up and save Father's crop at once. Armstrong 
 has already urged it." 
 
 " Oh, it would be too dangerous ! " 
 
 " Yes, I know it would. Old Squire will be here soon. 
 And you needn't fear his blabbing. Lacy already knows 
 that Squire has lately been with Dan Morgan ; but I don't 
 think he'd ever suspect me on that account. And if he 
 does, he can't do anything as long as I keep my eyes 
 open. You trust Squire ; he can lie out of it with ease, 
 no matter what they ask him ; I've taught him his 
 catechism." 
 
 Squire insisted on seeing to his young master's comfort 
 every night ; moreover, such duty fitted with the arrange- 
 ments in other respects, for the party were dependent 
 upon foraging, and the supplies that Jennie sent daily 
 by the hands of the old man were not unneedful. On
 
 582 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 the first day of this new service the negro brought up 
 face to face with Dr. Lacy, out for a stroll. 
 
 "Well, Mahsta, an' how izh you a-gittin' awn by dis 
 time, sah ? " says Squire, softly, holding his hat in both 
 hands and bowing low. 
 
 " Why why what is your name ? " demanded the 
 surgeon, greatly wondering where he had seen this cheer- 
 ful little negro. 
 
 " My name John, sah ; but den mos' ev'ybody dey don't 
 call me John ; dey don't call me nothin' but Squiah, sah, 
 an' mos' ingin'ally dey calls me ole Squiah ; 'caze dat's 
 the las' name dey gim me, Mahsta, an' dey mos' alluz calls 
 it fust, 'caze de good book hit say de las' is a-gwine to be 
 de fust, an' de fust is a-gwine to be de las'." 
 
 " Oho ! and you are the same man, whether first or last, 
 that came to us down yonder a month ago," exclaimed 
 the doctor, making connection with past experience. 
 
 " Yassah, I's de same pusson, sah ; an' sence I seed ju, 
 Mahsta, I's seed a mighty heap o' hahd times dat I is, 
 Mahsta ; but I heah yit on savin' groun' a leetle while 
 oncet mo'e. How you be'n gittin' along, Mahsta ? " and 
 Squire bowed again, and looked ineffable interest in the 
 white man's welfare. 
 
 " Very well, indeed. We've had nothing here but the 
 very best of treatment the greatest kindness." Lacy 
 said the words earnestly ; he meant them, every one. 
 
 " Now I is proud to heah dat, feh true ; yit I ain't 
 nuvveh s'picioned nothin' else f'om Mahs Tom an' his 
 folks. De good book hit say you kin know 'em dess es 
 fuh ezh you kin see 'em, an' I be'n a-knowin' Mahs Tom
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 283 
 
 a-gwine awn fifty yeah, an' Miss Jinnie she dess es good 
 es de Lawd eveh inek. You ain't got no chance to 
 grumrale, Mahsta, w'en you gits in wid sech folks es 
 dem. But I tell you, sah, I's be'n a-havin' a hahd 
 time," and the negro shifted his feet, toward which 
 his eyes had fallen as though in great distress from 
 even the recollection of his trials. 
 
 " Where have you been, if it's a fair question ? " asked 
 Lacy, his voice showing sympathy. 
 
 " Oh, yassah ; me, Mahsta ? Well, sah, I don't min' 
 tellin' you whah I's be'n ; but I don't know zackly whah 
 I hain't be'n, Mahsta. My young mahsta, he b'longs to 
 de ahmy, Mahsta not de ahmy w'at shu b'longs to, sah, 
 but Ginnle Lee's ahmy ; an' he tuck an' tuck me way 
 oveh yandeh in Mellan' an' Penns'vania de ve'y day atteh 
 de day w'en I seed ju de las' time befo'e." Squire's face had 
 been lifted, and his gaze now squarely met the surgeon's. 
 
 " Ah, so you've been over there ? You admit it ? " 
 
 " Yassah, an' den I got los' f 'om him, sah, an' den I 
 cotch up ag'in, an' den he got huht in dat battle w'at 
 dey fit, an' den he be'n tuck back into ole Fihginny 
 some'h's in de Valley, an' den I hatto come wid 'im an' 
 tek keeh of 'im tell he git well ag'in ; but now he done 
 got so he kin go, an' he done gawn out o' de Valley oncet 
 mo'e, an' all o' Ginnle Lee's men done gawn." 
 
 " Where is Sergeant Morgan ? " demanded the doctor, 
 abruptly. 
 
 " Mahs Dan ? " 
 
 " Yes ; but never mind, I suppose I ought to ask no 
 questions."
 
 284 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Yassah, but Mahsta, I ain't seed him sence one day 
 las' week w'en we be'n in de mounting. He be'n a-gwine 
 to git back to whah he b'long to ; 'caze Mahs Chahley he 
 tell me up an' down, he say, ' Squiah, ef anything happen 
 to me, an' ef anything mek so you not keep up wimmy, 
 you dess git back home an' dah you stay tell I done sont 
 fuh you to come away,' an' so I done come back." 
 
 " I see ; and you expect some one to send for you ? " 
 
 " I dunno, Mahsta ; mebbe dey mought, an' den ag'in 
 mebbe dey moughtn't. Mahs Dan he gwine down de 
 country, an' Mahs Chahley he done broke down wid he 
 haid all bunged up wid a swoad, an' den I come along 
 a piece o' de way wi' Mahs Dan, an' in de mounting he 
 cotch one o' de Feddicks an' let him go, and den he tell 
 me to go, too. You heahed anything o' Mahs Dan o' 
 Mahs Chahley, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Well, no ; at least I have not heard of your master, 
 though I have heard of Morgan, and I've heard of you . . . 
 well, never mind." Lacy had been about to say that he 
 had heard of Squire's adventures with Freeman and 
 Dahlgren, but had thought better. 
 
 " An' whah is Mahs Dan now, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " I can't tell you. Don't you know I have his brother 
 here ? " 
 
 " Oh, yassah ; Miss Jinnie she dess now tole me. How 
 come you didn't git no fuhdeh dan dis place, Mahsta?" 
 
 " Why, you old sinner, your people cut us off, so we 
 couldn't get back." 
 
 " Yassah," arid Squire's voice was exceedingly grave 
 and humble, " you p'nounce de Gawd's troof w'en you call
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 285 
 
 me ole sinneh. I is feh true, an' de good book hit say I 
 not a-gwine to live out ha'f my days. Doezh zhu know 
 de signs, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Signs ? What signs do you mean ? " 
 
 " De signs w'at folks sees sometimes w'en dey time is 
 a-comin'." 
 
 " Premonitions, you mean ? No . . . well, yes ; maybe 
 I do under certain circumstances." 
 
 " Yassah, hit mought be dat wi' de w'ite folks, but wi' 
 de niggehs hit's signs, Mahsta, an' I done had one." 
 
 Dr. Lacy sat down on a stump, Squire yet standing. 
 The man of science began to flatter himself that he had 
 found something of interest. Lacy's religion was of the 
 kind that regards the law of cause and effect as God 
 Almighty, and he had no objection to hear part of the 
 crude belief of one who had descended, and not remotely, 
 from some savage race head-full of its fetiches. 
 
 " Tell me what you mean, old man, and if I can help you, 
 I'll do it." 
 
 " Yassah, an' I done say to myse'f, dess es soon es I 
 laid my eyes awn you, Mahsta, I done say to myse'f dat 
 gen'l'm'n he a smaht man, 'caze dey done tole me, Miss 
 Jinnie done tole me you done keohed up Mahs Dan's 
 brotheh an' I knows hit tek a mighty smaht man to do dat ; 
 an' I say to myse'f dat de good book hit say dat ye mus' 
 come to de fountain an' ye mus' lahn o' de wise man. 
 Now, Mahsta, I gwine to tell you de troof I done got 
 my call." 
 
 It would now have been impossible for any one to doubt 
 the negro's utter seriousness, for he was indeed utterly
 
 186 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 serious. The purpose for which he had begun this colloquy 
 had momentarily subsided far from the surface of conscious- 
 ness, weighed down by the ghastly warning received at 
 Gettysburg. The effect of time had but little diminished 
 the agony of the first shock in the old man's mind, yet 
 the blatant incredulity of his white friends had brought 
 reinforcement to time, and together they had given the 
 negro a feeble hope not hope that brings pleasure, but 
 that denies it. And now, in the presence of Lacy, in 
 whom he dimly conceived enlightenment abounded, and 
 who had said a belief that might be construed faith in the 
 general article of superstitious creed coupled with caution 
 in avoiding particular error, old Squire sought help with 
 intense desire to be told and convinced that in some 
 hitherto unrecognized manner or degree his part in the 
 performance had been erroneous, and that therefore the 
 whole was void of effect. 
 
 Lacy was far from being blind to the negro's trembling 
 excitation : a student of physiology inevitably enjoys vast 
 interest in the emotions, and that which excites them, and 
 our doctor was a student and a thinker. He became alert, 
 ready to help the sufferer ; he saw that here was a case 
 of illness that needed the delicate treatment of spiritual 
 surgery the wholesome restoration of faith by the diver- 
 sion of credulity ; he saw that no mere assurance would 
 answer ; no ipse dixit of his own could countermand the 
 voice that had already spoken its decision ; he must be 
 careful, must proceed tentatively, and convince this negro, 
 not that his creed itself was wrong, a hopeless task, 
 but that this worshipper had himself failed to read its 
 conditions.
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 287 
 
 "Let me see your tongue," said Lacy, with due 
 solemnity. 
 
 Old Squire shut his eyes and obeyed. 
 
 " Ah ! ah ! partly right partly wrong a little 
 farther there. Pretty bad tongue, but it'll come all 
 right to-morrow. Now tell me about that sign." 
 
 " You wants me to tell you how I come to git dat call 
 Mahsta ? " asked the negro, with trembling lips. 
 
 "Yes, don't skip anything. You see such things de- 
 pend on a great many other things. For instance, was it 
 in the night or in the day ? " 
 
 "Hit wus mos' in de night, Mahsta." 
 
 " Well, I want to know which. Was it when you were 
 asleep or awake ? " 
 
 " I wus wide awake, Mahsta, an' hit wus in de night ; 
 mos' in de night." 
 
 " Well, tell me all about it. Were you alone ? " 
 
 "No, Mahsta, de' wus anotheh man wimmy, but he 
 didn't git no call." 
 
 " Why not ? Why shouldn't he be called too ? " Lacy 
 was merely reconnoitring ; he must examine the ground 
 carefully that he might organize the most scientific attack. 
 
 " 'Gaze I wus de fust one, Mahsta," exclaimed Squire, 
 his manner very convincing. 
 
 " Yes, but didn't you tell me just now that the Bible 
 says the first shall be last, and so forth ? " 
 
 " Yassah, dat de Gawd's troof. But den ag'in he didn't 
 git no call at all, Mahsta." 
 
 " Go on, and tell me everything." 
 
 " Yassah, me an' him we wus a-gwine along in de wheat,
 
 288 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Mahsta, right by dat place dat de calvry fit so hahd, an 1 
 me an' him we wus a-gwine along, an' fust thing I knowed 
 I done slap my han' right awn de daid man's face," and 
 the negro's voice sank to a whisper void of intentional 
 emphasis, yet full of tragedy. 
 
 "And what did the other man do? Do you object to 
 telling me his name ? " 
 
 " Oh, Mahsta, he waun't nobody but a po' niggeh lak 
 me. I tell you w'at he done, Mahsta ; he dess tuck out 
 de pocket-book an' he dess went awn a piece, an' dess got 
 some mo'e outen some yotheh men w'at was a-layin' down 
 dah in de wheat." 
 
 Lacy's mind immediately became active to contrive 
 some scheme for diverting the impending calamity from 
 Squire upon his companion the wretch that rifled the 
 dead ; but he must feel his way. 
 
 " You are sure the man was dead ? " he asked. 
 
 " Mahsta, he wus dat cole an' stiff dat I couldn't stan' 
 de tetch," and Squire's head shook, his eyes on the 
 ground. 
 
 "Tell me where it was that this thing happened." 
 
 " Hit wus oveh in Mellan' an' Penns'vania, Mahsta, mos' 
 whah all de people fit so long," said the negro, solemnly. 
 
 "Gettysburg?" 
 
 "Yassah, dat's hit." 
 
 " You say the other man had no call ? " 
 
 " No, Mahsta, he tetched 'em on puhpose, an' I tetched 
 dat man onbeknownst." 
 
 " What were you trying to do at the time ? " 
 
 " I was dess a-gwine to git back to my Mahs Chahley,
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 289 
 
 w'at I got los' f'om," said Squire, brightening a little. 
 " Hit wus dess atteh dey got th'ough fight'n' in dat wheat, 
 Mahsta, an' I knowed Mahs Chahley wus dah, an' I wus 
 dess a-gittin' back to Mahs Chahley." 
 
 " And what was the man with you trying to do ? " 
 
 " He waun't a-tryin' to do nothin' but a-follin' along to 
 keep up wid me, an' git back, Mahsta." 
 
 " How old are you, Squire ? " 
 
 " Mahsta, I wus in my twenty-fif yeah w'en de stahs 
 all fell down, an' dat's in thihty-three, an' now hit's sixty- 
 three, an' I's a-gwine awn an' hit won't be long." The 
 first half of this reply had been uttered proudly ; the 
 latter, with great despondency. 
 
 "You are fifty-five. How old was the man who was 
 with you ? " 
 
 " Him ? He not ha'f es ole es me, Mahsta. He got a 
 long time to stay heah yit." 
 
 " A long time ? Perhaps he has, but you have a longer 
 time." 
 
 " How you mek dat out, Mahsta ? Good Lawd, how 
 you does go awn ! " 
 
 " The last shall be first. Isn't that true ? " 
 
 " Yassah, dat w'at de good book say." 
 
 " If there is a just God in heaven, he ought to go first." 
 
 "An' I got to follow him, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Of course ; you see you didn't look into everything, 
 Squire." Neither was Lacy looking into everything. In 
 his great eagerness to relieve Squire, his mind was closed 
 to the fact that the old negro was beginning to think that 
 Barney's life was according to the doctor's theories all
 
 290 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 that stood betwixt himself and death. " And when a man 
 doesn't look into everything, he's going to make mistakes. 
 You see that oak tree yonder ? " 
 
 "Yassah." 
 
 " How did it get there ? " 
 
 " Hit dess growed right dah f'om a acohn, I 'spec', 
 Mahsta ; leastways ef hit waun't set out," Squire added, 
 guardedly, as though the great man before him required 
 the utmost accuracy. 
 
 * Right. What kind of oak is it ? " 
 
 " Hit's a black oak, Mahsta." 
 
 " Now if anybody was to show you an acorn of a black 
 oak, could you swear to it ? " 
 
 " I 'spec' I could, Mahsta ; but I ain't nuvveh be'n 
 much of a han' at dat kin' o' wohk." 
 
 " You are a black man. Was the man with you a black 
 man, or was he yellow ? " 
 
 " He mos' yalloh, sah," Squire replied, compromising. 
 
 " If I had in my hand two acorns, one of a black oak 
 and the other of a red oak, would you know which one 
 to plant in order for a black oak to grow ? " 
 
 " Yassah," said the old man, with great positiveness. 
 
 " And do you think that yellow man could do it ? " 
 
 " I dunno, Mahsta," said Squire, doubtfully. 
 
 " Well, I couldn't do it, not if my life depended on it. 
 And now you see, Squire, how great a thing it is to know 
 little things. A round ball of an acorn makes a black oak, 
 and another makes a red oak, and you can see the difference 
 but I can't. But you couldn't make a red oak grow from 
 a black acorn."
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 291 
 
 " No, sah ; hit tek Gawdamighty hese'f to do dat," 
 exclaimed the negro, certain of this little spot of ground. 
 
 " And you can't tell what made you black, and what 
 made the other man yellow ; but I can tell you that the 
 call you had, and thought was meant for you, was meant 
 for that other man." 
 
 " De Je-e-e-susgawd, Mahsta ! You mean dat feh true?" 
 
 " Yes, and I'll show you. Now, you needn't tell me 
 anything more ; I see how this mistake happened, and I'm 
 going to prove it to you. Go and bring me an ear of corn." 
 
 Squire made haste. Lacy had now placed his cause 
 almost upon the hazard of a die ; if the cavalry fight that 
 Squire had spoken of was the great one of the 3d of July, 
 then the doctor's method ought to succeed ; and he 
 believed thoroughly that there had been no other cavalry 
 fight worth mentioning at Gettysburg. 
 
 " Now, Squire, what I'm going to tell you is this. If that 
 call came to you on any one of six days in the week, it was 
 meant that the first should be first ; but if it came on the 
 other day, it was meant that the last should be first. If I 
 had my way about it, it should surely be his call instead 
 of yours, no matter what day it was ; because he was 
 younger than you, and yet allowed you to lead. He ought 
 to have gone first ; don't you think so, Squire ? " 
 
 " Yassah ; but, Mahsta, he dess stayed behime an' I 
 couldn't git him up ; yassah, he done me dess dat a-way 
 mos' all de time. You reckon, Massah, dat call w'at I 
 tuck feh me, hit wus sont to him ? " and the old man's 
 face was distorted with hope and pity. 
 
 " I say I'm not sure yet ; but you've got a chance ; just
 
 292 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 one chance out of seven ; if it was on a certain day it was 
 for him ; if it was on any other of the seven days it was 
 for you. Must I tell you what days would strike on 
 you?" 
 
 The negro's face became awful. He shifted uneasily 
 about. The chance in his favour seemed terribly small. 
 Yet, previously, he had thought of no particular chance 
 at all. At last he bowed low, and said : 
 
 " De good Lawd's got me in his han' an' ef he gwine to 
 tek me fust he gwine to tek me, an' ef he gwine to let me 
 stay heah some mo'e an' be de las' he gwine to let me stay. 
 Mahsta, tell me w'at days is mine." 
 
 " Monday . . . Tuesday . . . Wednesday . . . Thursday 
 ..." and here the doctor's slow speech paused ; he would 
 not risk the entire overthrow of his scheme ; perhaps 
 there had been some fighting of cavalry on Wednesday or 
 Thursday. If terrible emotion should betray that all 
 interest had been in either of these days, he must still 
 scotch in some way ; but he saw that his patient was in 
 intolerable suspense, anticipating the sentence of the next 
 word "Saturday . . . Sunday." 
 
 But before Lacy had completed the word Saturday, 
 Squire was on his knees. 
 
 The doctor patiently waited. At last Squire said in a 
 broken voice, " Mahsta, izh you sho' ? " 
 
 "That is to come now, Squire. Give me that corn. 
 There's nothing like being certain of anything, Squire." 
 
 "An' dat's de Gawd's troof, Mahsta. But den dey 
 ain't nobody, 'scusin' Gawdamighty hese'f, dat kin expec' 
 sech a no-count ole sinneh lak me to mek sho'."
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 293 
 
 " Now, Squire, if it was on Friday, you have a chance." 
 
 " Yassah ; hit wus a Friday feh sho'." 
 
 " Is it possible ! But it ought to be on a certain Friday. 
 Any common Friday wouldn't do at all. And I'm going 
 to tell you beforehand," and now Lacy's voice was exceed- 
 ingly solemn, " I must warn you beforehand, Squire, that 
 unless it was on a certain number of a Friday, the sign 
 was meant for you after all." 
 
 " Wat dat mean, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Well, I'll tell you, if you'll just give me good atten- 
 tion. You know that thirteen is a very bad number, don't 
 you?" 
 
 " Yassah, I done heahed about dat, and I done seed it, 
 too." 
 
 " And you know that Friday is a bad day. Now, there 
 were a great many men who had bad luck on that Friday 
 but there were a great many men who had good luck. 
 You see when thirteen and Friday come together, the 
 signs fall on other men. Understand ? " 
 
 Squire shook his head ; he did not understand ; as to 
 that, neither did Lacy, but he was resolved to make Squire 
 easy and to overwhelm that corpse robber, in case the old 
 man should ever tell him this tale. 
 
 Lacy shelled corn : " Clear off a level place, Squire 
 about a yard there, that'll do ; now, see here ... I 
 make some rows for you to plant corn in ; now plant 
 seven grains in the first row an inch or so apart . . . no, 
 don't cover them ! Now, we begin on Friday ; one grain 
 for Friday, one for Saturday, and so on. How many days 
 in a week, Squire ? "
 
 294 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Seb'n, sah ; seb'n days in ev'y week." 
 
 " Right ; now plant seven more in the next row ; and 
 keep on till you get seven in each row ; . . . there ! " 
 
 Squire had succeeded in obeying orders ; the sweat 
 stood on his face as though he were indeed planting corn 
 in the warm springtime. 
 
 " Now, Squire, I lay this stick down at the end of these 
 rows, and we'll say it's a fence ; now what day do we call 
 all these grains next to the fence ? " 
 
 "Ev'y one o' dem grains hit stan's feh Friday, sah." 
 
 " Are you sure ? " 
 
 "Yassah, 'scusin' I ain't done mek a misscount an' 
 ain't got seb'n in ev'y row ; but den, Mahsta, we don't 
 plant cawn dat a-way." 
 
 " How so ? What's wrong ? " 
 
 " We don't tuhn roun' an' walk back to de eend, Mahsta. 
 We dess keeps awn right aroun' dis a-way," showing with 
 his black finger that when the planter ends a row he be- 
 gins the next one at the point opposite. 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know that, Squire ; but we are supposing 
 that we plant this field in the other way. You understand ? " 
 
 " Yassah, I know w'at shu mean ; ev'y cawn at de 
 fence hit stan' feh Friday leastways ef de ain't no miss- 
 count." 
 
 " Better count over, and see if they are right ; it won't 
 do to make the least mistake, Squire." 
 
 When the negro had proved the work, Lacy continued, 
 " What church do your people belong to, Squire ? " 
 
 " My mahsta, sah ? De fambly ? Dey b'longs to de 
 'Piscopal chuhch, sah."
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 295 
 
 Better than Lacy had hoped for ; it would probably 
 save him some labour of explanation. 
 
 " Do you know when Good Friday came this year ? " 
 
 " No, sah, 'caze I waun't at home den, an' in de ahmy 
 dey don't keep much 'count o' dem days, Mahsta." 
 
 " Do you remember where you were on Easter Sunday ? " 
 
 " Yassah, I 'merubeh we wus in camp down dah mos' to 
 de Rapidan." 
 
 " Yes, so was I. Well, how many days is Good Friday 
 before Easter ? " 
 
 " Dey is Good Friday, and den Sadday, an' den Easteh 
 Sunday, Mahsta." 
 
 " Now I want you to go and ask Miss Jennie what day 
 of the month Good Friday fell on this year, and don't say 
 anything else ; don't let her into our plot at all." 
 
 Squire went and returned. "Miss Jinnie she say hit 
 come on de thihd o' Ap'l, sah." 
 
 "Yes. I was hoping so, but I wanted to be sure. 
 How many days in April, Squire ? " 
 
 The old man clenched his fist and began to count. 
 His system was that which begins at the forefinger and 
 calls it the first month ; the hollow between the fingers, 
 the second month ; the knuckle of the middle finger, the 
 third month ; the hollow, the fourth, and so on. 
 
 " Jinooa'y, long ; Febooa'y, shawt ; Mahch, long ; 
 Ap'l, shawt. Hit's a shawt mont', sah ; Ap'l's a shawt 
 mont'." 
 
 "Thirty days, then?" 
 
 " Yassah, all dem shawt mont's is thihty days, 'scusin' 
 Febooa'y."
 
 296 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Well, I see you know a thing or two, Squire. Now 
 begin here at this first grain ; it stands for Good Friday, 
 the third of April ; and you count on till you get to the 
 first of May." 
 
 Squire counted, deeply interested in this exercise, won- 
 dering whereunto it tended, yet hopeful. 
 
 "Dis cawn, hit's on de fust o' May, sah." 
 
 " And is May short or long ? " 
 
 "Hit's long, sah." 
 
 " Then count thirty-one, and halt on the first of June. 
 Now be careful, or you'll spoil everything." 
 
 "Yassah, I sho' gwine to go slow an' git' em right. 
 Dish heah cawn he gwine to be de fust o' June." 
 
 " And is June short or long ? " 
 
 " Hit's a shawt mont', sah, 'caze May's a long 'un." 
 
 "Yes ; now count on up to the first of July." 
 
 Squire counted and halted his finger. 
 
 " Now we're getting right at the truth ; hold your 
 finger on that first of July, and look at me. What day of 
 the week was the fourth of July ? " 
 
 " Hit come on a Sadday, sah ; dat wus de ve'y day atteh 
 de day dat I done be'n in dat scrape w'at I be'n tellin' 
 you 'bout." 
 
 " Then the day of the fight was the third of July ? " 
 
 " Yassah, 'caze de nex' day hit wus de fou'th." 
 
 " Exactly so ; now what day do we call all these days 
 at the fence ? " 
 
 "Friday, sah, an' I see dish heah is de secon' ; an' 
 dish heah is de thihd ; an' he Friday, too, 'caze he at 
 de eend o' de row. How come dat, Mahsta ? "
 
 THE PORTENT DEFLECTED 297 
 
 "Why, you knew beforehand that the third of July 
 was Friday." 
 
 " Yassah, I knowed it, but hit don't seem lak I knowed 
 it befo'e." 
 
 " Now put a peg down here there by the third of 
 July ... so. Now come back here to Good Friday . . . 
 yes. Now, what number was that we spoke of that bad 
 luck number that works wrong sometimes ? " 
 
 "Thihteen, sah." 
 
 " Very well ; now, count all these Fridays, and tell me 
 how many weeks there were from Good Friday till the 
 third of July." 
 
 When Squire, trembling more and more as he pro- 
 ceeded, had made out that his portentous day had fallen 
 just thirteen weeks after Good Friday, his amazement 
 was so great that for a time he had no speech. That 
 Lacy was a man specially favoured of supernatural powers 
 there could be no doubt. A man who could thus, with- 
 out knowing the day on which Squire had been " called," 
 state the conditions which would prove that " call " in- 
 tended for another, and then show that these conditions 
 had existed at the time, was something far beyond the 
 reach of his reason, though not beyond his faith. When 
 at last he opened his mouth to speak, Lacy prevented him. 
 
 "Come with me, Squire. Lieutenant Morgan has a 
 calendar, and I'm going to prove to you again that I'm 
 right." 
 
 At Junior's window the doctor halted, and called out, 
 " Lieutenant, please look at the almanac and tell me what 
 day of the month was Good Friday."
 
 298 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 After a moment Morgan's face was seen at the window. 
 " Who is that you have there, Doctor ? " 
 
 "This is Squire." 
 
 " Ah ! then I am his very good friend. I have heard 
 of all you did, and you may just count on me to return 
 your goodness " 
 
 Squire was bowing and scraping 
 
 " Hold on, Morgan ! Tell us what we want to know. 
 What day was Good Friday ? " 
 
 The lieutenant fingered his pamphlet. " Third of 
 April," he said. 
 
 "And now please count how many weeks there were 
 from Good Friday till the third of July." 
 
 Junior counted, and said, " Thirteen to the day." 
 
 " Thank you, Lieutenant ; please hand me a glass, and 
 that flask on the mantel ; and that box of powders with 
 the red cover. Squire, let me see that tongue again." 
 
 And the whiskey that Lacy coloured brown with some 
 harmless drug so quickened the old man's blood that he 
 was soon singing at his work, even forgetful, for the time, 
 that he must follow Barney an enormity of an idea in 
 his own brain, though in Lacy's merely the recognition 
 that death, soon or late, must come to each and all.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 AHMED NEUTRALITY 
 
 ..." So thrive I in my enterprise 
 And dangerous success of bloody wars, 
 As I intend more good to you and yours 
 Than ever you and yours were by me wronged ! " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 FOR some days Usher West sat at his father's table for 
 every meal, but Lacy saw him at no other time. Ancient 
 convictions were strong, yet the doctor asked no questions ; 
 indeed, he feared to learn certainly that the young man's 
 absence from his command was voluntary, for the good 
 surgeon had conceived respect for this modest household. 
 
 These days were welcome to Morgan and Sency because 
 of their desire to see Armstrong recover fully. Mosby 
 was known to be waiting only for the opportunity which 
 would try the physical powers of the strongest. 
 
 Meade had his headquarters at Warrenton, and Lee was 
 at Culpeper. Federals rode where they would in Fau- 
 quier and Loudoun, and our party remained in hiding, 
 giving their horses exercise by night, and prudently keep- 
 ing aloof from Mr. West's. Morgan learned that his 
 brother was allowed to leave his bed for a few hours each 
 day, and that any apprehension of an advance by the 
 
 299
 
 300 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Confederates would cause Dr. Lacy to cut short his delay 
 in removing his patient. Once again Captain Freeman 
 had come to the house by night, but nothing transpired 
 concerning the nature of his visit. Old Squire diligently 
 served Miss Jennie, and acted as go-between for the bivouac 
 and the residence, making Armstrong alternately hopeful 
 and despairing. Without reason he expected Jennie to 
 send him some word, and with reason feared that she 
 cared little for him. His agony became intense, and his 
 wish for Junior Morgan to go became so strong that he 
 urged upon Usher the scheme of frightening Lacy away 
 with rumours of a contemplated visit by Mosby for the 
 purpose of paroling the Federal officer. 
 
 Junior had no desire to go ; he was happiest where he 
 was. To him and to Jennie the day of his departure 
 would bring sorrow and not joy. But for his devotion to 
 the girl he loved, and with whom he had plighted faith, 
 Morgan would have gone before Meade had advanced into 
 Virginia not healed, certainly, but in early convalescence, 
 which might as well have been continued in Washington 
 or at his home in Schenectady. 
 
 It was toward the middle of August, almost two months 
 since Junior had been received into this true asylum. 
 Still unable to use his sword arm, he was strong enough, 
 with care, to have ridden horseback ; in an ambulance he 
 would have feared no evil result in a removal to Fairfax, 
 or even to Washington if need were. There was no 
 excuse for remaining longer a burden upon Mr. West. 
 Morgan was ashamed of himself. He knew not how to 
 propose remuneration for the expense and trouble that
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 301 
 
 had been incurred and undergone on his account ; he 
 hoped that the relationship he was resolved to seek would 
 show him the way. Jennie, oppressed with grief and 
 fears, had at last consented that he appeal to her 
 father. 
 
 " Mr. West," said Morgan, " I must ask that you grant 
 me leave to speak very seriously." 
 
 " Certainly, Lieutenant, let me make you comfortable," 
 and the old gentleman rose and brought out pillows, 
 which he arranged in an arm-chair on the side porch. 
 
 " I am so embarrassed by the great kindness you have 
 shown me, sir, that I find no words that would give 
 expression to my present feeling ; yet I want you to know 
 that I consider your conduct very magnanimous." 
 
 To this opening Mr. West gave no support. His face 
 reddened. To be overloaded with thanks and with 
 praises was, perhaps, more embarrassing to himself than 
 to the speaker. 
 
 Junior found the silence disheartening ; yet he was com- 
 pelled to continue. 
 
 " I have fought against you, and must fight again ; yet 
 you treat me more as a friend than as an enemy more as 
 a friend than as a stranger." 
 
 "Very simple; you were in distress." 
 
 " Yes, sir, simple enough to you, but a thing impossible 
 to many others. Do you know, sir, that I have feared in 
 vain that I should see a look of impatience or annoyance 
 in regard to my poor self ? I am oversensitive, no doubt, 
 and my dread that my intrusion would call up resentment 
 on your part has been great, perhaps even disrespectful to
 
 302 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 you. I have been here so long that many unguarded 
 moments must have come when one in your place, who 
 was merely acting the part of hospitality, must have 
 shown that he was acting ; yet at no time have I felt from 
 you any displeasure or even difficulty. But my judg- 
 ment tells me that caring for me has been difficult, and I 
 beg that I may be allowed to " 
 
 " Stop, Lieutenant," exclaimed Mr. West, though in a 
 mild tone ; "if I have done any good, I don't want to 
 lose the comfort of it." 
 
 " Sir, you may easily understand the difficulty that I 
 find in this matter ; yet I obey you, and will consent to 
 remain forever obliged to you." 
 
 "Maybe the tables will be turned some day, Lieuten- 
 ant. I have a son, and if you should ever be able to help 
 him out of trouble, I am confident of your doing it." 
 
 "Yes, sir, and I am greatly afraid that you will see 
 suffering yourself, Mr. West. It may be a strange thing 
 for a Union soldier to say, sir ; but since I have seen some- 
 thing of the life here in this house, nothing but the severe 
 command of duty can hereafter make me raise my hand 
 against your people." 
 
 "But they are your people, as well. Perhaps the 
 knowledge that you are Southern born has something to 
 do with it." 
 
 " I am not sure that you are wrong. I know that the 
 war has become to me a great tragedy, and only a tragedy. 
 Formerly there was some insane pleasure in the excite- 
 ment ; now, everything becomes mischievous and repug- 
 nant."
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 303 
 
 "Yet you expect to continue." 
 
 " Of course I understand that you say that without con- 
 demnation, for you know it to be my duty to continue to 
 serve what I believe is the right. Yes, I must continue, 
 though it break my heart." 
 
 "Lieutenant, the doctor tells me that you will soon 
 leave us." 
 
 "Yes, sir." 
 
 " Would it please you to leave any message, or any let- 
 ter for your brother, on the chance of my being able here- 
 after to send it to him?" Mr. West was feeling the 
 Federal ; he knew that Sergeant Morgan was near by ; if 
 the Federal's answer should be propitious, a meeting might 
 be arranged for. 
 
 " If you should see him, Mr. West, kindly tell him that 
 I think of him as a brother ; the differences between us 
 are but political, and amount to nothing in my sight. I 
 beg you to thank him for his kindness, and to say that I 
 pray for the war to end, so that I may meet him and show 
 him ever after what I feel." Sobs were in Morgan's 
 voice, and tears in the older man's eyes. 
 
 "And now, sir, I am compelled to beg more of you." 
 
 Mr. West looked inquiringly. 
 
 " Before I ask more, however, I must put you in posses- 
 sion of some facts. You know something of my birth, and 
 a little of myself. My home, sir, is in Schenectady, New 
 York ; my reputed grandfather who adopted me left 
 to me, as he supposed, in the name of Daniel Morgan, a 
 considerable estate. Perhaps you have heard something 
 of this also. That property at a low estimate might be
 
 304 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 valued at four hundred thousand dollars. I am telling 
 you this, sir, for a purpose ; if I did not think that you 
 had heard something of it, I would not mention it now. 
 That property I do not consider mine ; it was left, sup- 
 posedly to me ; it was left, really to Daniel Morgan, and 
 I intend to see that he gets it. If he is alive when the 
 war ends, it shall be his ; it shall be his, or his heirs'. I 
 shall have nothing. And now, Mr. West, you see how 
 poor a man it is who comes to you and begs for your 
 daughter." 
 
 Mr. West sprang to his feet. He had indeed suspected 
 a slight admiration for Jennie, but had certainly not looked 
 for this declaration. His mind had been fixed on Charles 
 Armstrong as his daughter's husband, an arrangement 
 positively suitable, and he had regarded the matter 
 as nearly fixed as such can be. Yet, in an instant he had 
 been moved by the proud sufferer before him ; this Fed- 
 eral was the queerest claimant in love matters that he had 
 ever heard of or read of, a man who voluntarily declared 
 a determination to surrender what most men demand in 
 sons-in-law, a man to stubbornly assert that he should 
 continue to fight against the South, and such high princi- 
 ple appealed powerfully to him. If Junior had come to 
 him showing himself rich, offering allurement, the old 
 man would have spurned the suitor ; the Federal had be- 
 come glorious in his eyes, yet it may be pardoned to the 
 Southerner that his first thought had been the equality of 
 the Virginian with the best. He exclaimed : 
 
 " By God, sir ! Dan Morgan wouldn't touch a cent of 
 your property."
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 305 
 
 Then Mr. West sat down and said, " Excuse me, but do 
 you believe that one of your blood would consent to the 
 sacrifice you would make ? " 
 
 Morgan was puzzled ; though he had indeed thought 
 of this phase of the matter, not very seriously, however, 
 his difficulty came from the seeming avoidance of the main 
 subject. 
 
 " What would you do in his place ? " asked Mr. 
 West. 
 
 " I hope, sir, that I would act justly and honourably in 
 any case and every case." 
 
 Yet Junior's eyes had kindled with pleasure in hearing 
 his brother's principle defended. He continued, " It is a 
 question of right and wrong, in which the right is on his 
 side." 
 
 " I don't look at it that way," said Mr. West. " Likely 
 enough, at the first, your grandfather's attachment to you 
 came from his belief that you were Daniel Morgan ; but 
 when he made you his heir, he had become attached to 
 you irrespective of names. To all intents and purposes 
 you were Daniel Morgan ; and if he had learned before he 
 made his will that you were the wrong brother, no doubt 
 he still would have made you his heir." 
 
 Was the old man arguing his daughter into the position 
 of a rich man's wife ? 
 
 " That may be possible, Mr. West ; still it is only theory, 
 and I cannot accept it as against the great reality that the 
 will names Daniel Morgan as the heir. Yet these ques- 
 tions, Mr. West, interesting and important as they are, 
 have not a tithe of importance and interest to my mind
 
 306 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 compared with my great wish to enter into the relationship 
 with you which I have already sought at your hands." 
 
 Again Mr. West rose, not as before, but slowly and 
 with seeming reluctance. He stood by the Federal offi- 
 cer, on whose head he laid his large rough hand, and his 
 voice trembled as he spoke. 
 
 " My boy," he said, " I hate to grieve you, I'll swear I 
 do ; but I must, sir. I can never consent for my daughter 
 to marry an enemy of her country." 
 
 Outside, the world glittered in the August sunlight. 
 South and east the mountains hid the devastated fields of 
 Virginia, under whose sod rested thousands of the sons of 
 the South, and thousands of her invaders. Beyond the 
 end of the range was an armed host seeking devices for 
 causing the most successful destruction, and of this host 
 the lover would soon be a part once more. 
 
 " But after the war ? " Morgan pleaded. 
 
 Mr. West again took his seat. He shook his head. 
 
 " No, sir ; the best you can do for yourself is to quit 
 thinking of it. My answer has been given. You have 
 spoken to my daughter ? " 
 
 "Yes, sir, and my weakness is my only excuse. She 
 was a very ministering angel, and I could not withhold." 
 
 " Oh, as for that, don't give yourself any trouble. I am 
 not the party of the first part." 
 
 Mr. West's voice had changed. He understood now 
 that he was bringing sorrow on the one he most loved. 
 He looked at Morgan and saw his face very white, his 
 hand over his eyes. The silence was grievous ; both men 
 were suffering.
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 307 
 
 Morgan was first to speak. "Your will shall be re- 
 spected, sir. I have too great obligations to you to cause 
 you any displeasure. Yet before I go," he added, rising, 
 "I would ask permission to tell Miss Jennie your decision." 
 
 " So be it," was the answer. 
 
 The night came, and Morgan was discussing with Lacy 
 the preparations for their departure. Mr. West was alone 
 out in the porch, thinking with little pleasure about many 
 things. The farm was almost a failure ; he had been able 
 to get help at planting time, when the armies were facing 
 each other across the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg, 
 fifty miles away ; but the demoralization resulting when 
 Lee and Hooker moved northward in June had thrown 
 the crop far behind for lack of labour ; still he hoped for 
 enough to supply his own and Jennie's simple needs. 
 The wheat had been good ; some had been lost at the 
 critical moment of harvest, but there was enough. This 
 war, with its fluctuations, wave after wave rolling for- 
 ward and back over North Virginia, showed no abate- 
 ment. Lee had gone back, but would come again. He had 
 no doubt that Lee would come again ; yet the Yankees 
 showed such determination that he feared the war had 
 just begun. It was hard on the women, he knew, and as 
 hard on Jennie as on any one of them, harder than on 
 most. He doubted that he ought to allow her to stay 
 here. His mind went back to his youth and early man- 
 hood ; to his love for Jennie's mother his only passion ; 
 to her death, and he sighed grievously. 
 
 There was a step behind him, and then soft arms were 
 about his neck and Jennie's head rested against his own.
 
 308 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Father ! " 
 
 The word was a sigh. He drew her around, and she 
 sat on the arm of his chair. 
 
 "Jennie, it breaks me all up, my girl." 
 
 " Not even after the war, Father ? " 
 
 " Oh, Jennie, that is a long time. This war may last 
 ten years. And I thought it was to be Charley." 
 
 "No, sir, I never cared for him. He made me tell 
 him so before he left." 
 
 " What ? Well, well, how you young people do de- 
 ceive us. And so you are willing to take this Yankee ? " 
 
 " Don't call him a Yankee, Father. You know he was 
 born in Virginia." 
 
 "Yes, but he fights against Virginia." 
 
 " What would you do in his place ? " she asked, using 
 what she knew was his own familiar weapon. 
 
 "I suppose I should fall in love with you, Jennie." 
 
 "But I mean which side would you fight for? Does 
 he owe as much to the South as he does to the 
 North?" 
 
 " I can't say that he does ; but it seems to me there 
 are enough men in the North without his help. Yet I 
 confess that every man must be his own judge and 
 conscience keeper ; and the young fellow has acted very 
 well, I can't deny that." 
 
 " Father ! " 
 
 " What is it, my child ? " 
 
 " He is getting ready to go." 
 
 " And you want to keep him ? Oh, little girl, you 
 want to leave your old father?"
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 309 
 
 She broke down for one moment, and laid her head on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 "You know I would never leave you. But after the 
 war, Father ? Then we can all live together," and she whis- 
 pered, "he has promised to become a Virginian then." 
 
 "How do you know, Jennie, that you can trust him 
 so long? Indeed, it may be ten years." 
 
 " If he cannot wait ten years, then I shall be grieved ; 
 but I shall say that his love had been very light." 
 
 " And you would wait ten years ? " 
 
 " Father, I shall not marry anybody unless I marry 
 him, and I won't do that if you forbid. Would you prefer 
 that I never marry ? " 
 
 "I told him, dear, that my consent could never be 
 given to your marrying an enemy ; but at the same time 
 I'm not going to give you any command in this matter." 
 
 "Father, what would you think of him if he were to 
 turn his back on the North and join our army ? " 
 
 " Oh, I know such is not to be thought of, either by 
 himself or by any one. It is simply his misfortune to 
 be on the wrong side, and I'm fearing that you feel it 
 your misfortune also. But I'm not going to try to con- 
 strain you, and for your part you must not expect me 
 to tell you a lie and say that my consent is freely given. 
 Are you determined to marry him ? " 
 
 "Father, he thinks so much of you that I know he 
 will never ask me again, unless he should believe you 
 were willing." 
 
 " Then it's a hard case, Jennie. I don't know how I 
 can be willing when I'm unwilling."
 
 310 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 She bent down and kissed him. " But are you not 
 unwilling also to " she paused. 
 
 " To what, dear ? " 
 
 " To see me serve him so ? " 
 
 " Ah ! You mean to ask if I am not unwilling to cause 
 you sorrow ? " 
 
 "I know you are." 
 
 " Jennie, if what you wish from me is merely a state- 
 ment that my objection to him is not so great as my 
 desire for your happiness, I make that statement at 
 once." 
 
 " And after the war you will make no objection ? " 
 
 " Well, my child, I see you are bent on it. Of course 
 I can't tell how I'm going to feel after the war, and I 
 can't know how he is going to behave himself all that 
 long while ; but I'll say this, that if you are both of the 
 same mind then, and nothing else will content my daugh- 
 ter, I won't say a word, and that's what I've been telling 
 you all the time, I won't do a thing against it. But I 
 can't promise you to feel differently. Won't that answer 
 satisfy you ? " 
 
 " And you will let me see him again and tell him ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, see him and tell him, and let him know 
 that I count on his doing me no ! don't tell him that 
 I can trust him ; that's one thing I can say for that young 
 man." 
 
 And so it resulted that Lacy and Morgan would linger, 
 yet only for a few days more. Mr. West showed no 
 evidence of displeasure or anxiety in regard to the 
 matter ; and Junior was exceedingly happy over the
 
 ARMED NEUTRALITY 311 
 
 small degree of favour that had been shown him, and 
 swore to himself that he would win a yet greater degree. 
 On this night Tom Baxter, barely halting on his round, 
 brought word to Usher that Mosby had ordered an assem- 
 bling of his men near Wilson's for the night following. 
 Little was needed to make preparation complete, and on 
 the next morning old Squire went as usual to the farm- 
 house ; he was to return early that he might accompany 
 his master upon the unknown expedition. Armstrong, 
 uncertain as to the time required for the enterprise or 
 the result, which might indeed be death or captivity to 
 any or to all, could restrain himself no longer, and though 
 Usher succeeded in preventing him from going in person, 
 he wrote a note to Jennie, to which Squire brought back 
 a reply. She told Armstrong simply and kindly that his 
 suit could not succeed, and begged him to accept the 
 answer as final ; and Usher, who had seen Squire deliver 
 the answer, and saw Armstrong seize upon it eagerly, saw 
 also the reader change expression from one of intense 
 anxiety to that of deep mortification and despair.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE PABTISANS 
 
 " Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night ? 
 Steph. A friend. 
 
 Lor. A friend ! What friend ? Your name I pray you, friend ? " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 THE vague and variable force known as Mosby's 
 battalion, though strong in its entire enrolment, was 
 weak in its active strength at any one period. Doubtless, 
 from first to last, more than two thousand men took part 
 in some enterprise of the band ; yet very many of these 
 were mere accidents of the day enlisted men that had 
 been cut off for the time being from their own regiments 
 which they rejoined as soon as they were able or willing ; 
 others, on furlough from wounds or illness, whose conva- 
 lescence was sufficient for momentary exertion that carried 
 stimulus with it, but complacently considered inadequate 
 for the tedium of the great camp ; others still that came 
 no one knew whence and departed of their own volition ; 
 even some, perhaps, that were deserters from the Federal 
 army. 1 The few that the major trusted were expected 
 to gather as many men as the contemplated achievement 
 
 1 See General Pleasonton's Report, quoted August 10, 1863, by General 
 A. A. Humphreys, Chief of Staff. 
 
 312
 
 THE PARTISANS 313 
 
 seemed to demand, or rather, it should be said, as few 
 men as the leader thought would be indispensable, so 
 that on some expeditions Mosby led perhaps hundreds, 
 while on others his followers were but scores, or even 
 fewer ; hence, it resulted that his minor undertakings 
 were almost uniformly brilliant and successful, while 
 those of greater magnitude frequently failed, the larger 
 number involved lacking the coherency of a small body 
 composed of his best and most experienced men. 
 
 As night fell once more, Usher West led his party out 
 of Goose Creek swamp in a northerly direction. The 
 way was narrow and winding, overhung at first by great 
 oaks and elms, through which the filtered starlight barely 
 showed the leaf -strewn path that muffled the horses' foot- 
 fall. Every man here knew more or less of this district ; 
 it was the boyhood home of three, and they had not made 
 half a mile when even to Armstrong's preoccupied mind 
 it became evident that their course was leading directly 
 away from the rendezvous that day given. 
 
 " Usher, how long you going to keep this road ? " he 
 asked, thinking that their guide was purposely throwing 
 any possible enemy off the scent. 
 
 " Keep it a good while," said West, and rode on. 
 
 "Well, it's not the right way." 
 
 " We'll get there all the same." 
 
 " If we do, we'll have to turn off up yonder at Adams's." 
 
 But at Adams's Usher went directly on, and now he 
 condescended to say : " Boys, I reckon I may as well tell 
 you that we don't go to Wilson's at all. That was all a 
 blind, so that if anybody blabbed it would do no harm.
 
 314 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 You just follow me, and I'll take you through all 
 right." 
 
 And soon Usher's pace almost imperceptibly began to 
 quicken. They had started at a slow walk, as nearly 
 noiseless as possible. They had once or twice diverged 
 from the route, and had returned to it farther on, thus 
 avoiding habitations. In this gathering, secrecy must be 
 the very greatest at the beginning, and celerity must be 
 the greatest at the moment of organizing. On this night 
 a score of small groups, twos and threes, were coming 
 from as many points of a circle to meet in a common 
 centre, and the more nearly that each approached that 
 centre, the less danger to each and the greater to all 
 should they dally. So Usher West and his companions 
 rode with speed ever increasing, until Morgan, who had 
 not yet taken part in any of Mosby's raids, began to fear 
 lest the efficiency of their horses should be impaired 
 before actual work was needed, and he spoke his fear to 
 West, who answered that the meeting and organizing 
 would require time in which the horses could rest, adding 
 that sometimes organization was effected while on the 
 march itself, by preconcerted arrangement the routes 
 being designated for each of the groups to take, in order 
 to intercept the line of main advance at points convenient, 
 but that on this night, after a long interval in which the 
 band had not assembled, preference had been given to the 
 former method. 
 
 They were now on a main highway, and when their 
 horses trod a sandy stretch of the road, they could hear 
 galloping that seemed to preserve its distance some
 
 THE PARTISANS 315 
 
 man ahead hurrying to the rendezvous, and in a little 
 while a voice came from the front, and there was silence 
 no hoofs beating, the man ahead halting to answer 
 the challenge of a sentinel. 
 
 Two hundred yards farther, and West's party came 
 to an abrupt halt, a clear voice crying, " Who comes 
 there ? " 
 
 "Friends with the countersign." 
 
 " Halt, friends ; advance one, with the counter- 
 sign." 
 
 Usher rode forward ; but there was no need to give the 
 password the sentinel knew him. 
 
 " Hello, Ush ! How many you got ? " 
 
 " Four more. Where's the major ? " 
 
 " Down at the mill. Better be lively. He's a hornet 
 to-night. Crowd from above not heard from yet." 
 
 " Hell you say ! How long you reckon he'll wait ? " 
 
 Passing the sentinel, Usher again took up the gallop ; 
 the rendezvous was yet a mile away, for Mosby kept 
 watch all round him and far. But soon the main road 
 was forsaken. At a slower pace the squad went down a 
 steep slope to the right, and on this hillside they were 
 again halted, and subjected here to longer delay. 
 
 " That nigger o' yours, West ; I'm going to keep him 
 here till you bring me the major's word." 
 
 "All right; Squire, you stay here a few minutes." 
 The white men rode on down the hill. 
 
 The old negro had no fears. " Mahsta, I's be'n th'ough 
 de bresh mo'n oncet. I's de same ole niggeh dat showed 
 Ginnle Stuaht de haidquahtehs o' dat big Yankee ginnle
 
 316 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 lash yeah, way back yandeh mos' to de railroad, down 
 yandeh by Cedah Run." 
 
 " Oh, yes, Uncle ; I reckon you're all right ; but then 
 you know I got to obey orders." 
 
 " Yassah, so I is too ; but I gwine to gid down an' res' 
 dis ole mule ef you don't mine ; I be'n a runnin' dis mule 
 feh who las' de longes'." 
 
 "All right, dismount if you like," said the sentinel. 
 
 " I boun' to git me a hoss dis time ; 'f I hadn' ha' mos' 
 beat dis mule to def, Mahs Chahley an' all 'ould ha' lef 
 me way behime. I ain't nuvveh be'n right in my mine 
 sence dat day I hatto leave my hoss oveh in Mellan' an' 
 Penns'vania. You be'n oveh dah, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Not lately ; but you mustn't talk, Uncle." 
 
 "Yassah, ef dat's ag'in de rule, den I ain't a-gwine to 
 talk no mo'e, Mahsta." 
 
 West, with Morgan, Sency, Armstrong, and Lewis, was 
 in the presence of John S. Mosby : a thin wiry man, with 
 a sandy beard, his face shaded by a soft black hat around 
 which curved a great ostrich plume. He was in full gray 
 uniform, and was seated at a small table, one candle dimly 
 lighting the whitened walls and pillars ; outside was the 
 sound of rushing waters. 
 
 " Five of us, Major," says West, saluting. 
 
 " Good ! Why, Morgan, how are you ? Haven't 
 seen you since I left the general. And there's Sency, 
 too. Oh, yes, I remember you very well ; you were 
 with us in Maryland once. And who are these ? " 
 
 " Charley Armstrong and Joe Lewis, of the First, Major," 
 said Morgan, "and we have old Squire with us. Don't
 
 THE PARTISANS 317 
 
 you remember his showing us Pope's headquarters last 
 year near Auburn ? " 
 
 " I should say I do. And I know Lewis like a book. 
 Yes, and I can recall Armstrong now. You are the big 
 man who attacked the bridge at Cedar Run. . . . Well, 
 men, make yourselves easy. We can hardly make a start 
 before midnight. Our people from above are delayed for 
 some reason, and I'll give 'em a chance ; but we start not 
 later than midnight, and I want you men of the First to 
 ride at the front. Remember that, now ; eight men 
 will ride half a mile in front, and you'll be four of them." 
 
 One other officer was in the room, Lieutenant Turner. 
 For a short while Mosby retained West ; the others of 
 Morgan's squad went out. The horses were unsaddled, 
 were watered and fed no telling when there would be 
 time for the next feeding. Old Squire was released, and 
 together the party rested, with groups of men all round 
 them on the hillside, most of them very quiet, but here 
 and there one busy with his weapons. 
 
 The numbers were growing ; the door of the mill fre- 
 quently showed forms entering and retiring. Perhaps 
 two hours had gone by, when a confused noise began, and 
 then a scramble for the horses. No loud order had been 
 given ; the word was passed from man to man. And 
 now there was no light in the mill. 
 
 Morgan knew that midnight had not yet come. West 
 whispered that the delayed party had succeeded in send- 
 ing a man to tell that they were cut off by the enemy and 
 must disband; the march would begin without them. 
 
 Somehow, a straggling column was formed, each irregu-
 
 818 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 lar group recognizing some familiar leader. West had 
 urged forward ; the column was moving. Yet in motion, 
 West found Mosby at the front. 
 
 " You four men lead," said the commander, " you four 
 in uniform. West, give them leeway and give them 
 complete instructions. You ride behind them in speaking 
 distance." 
 
 " But old Squire, Major. What shall I do with him ? " 
 asked West. 
 
 " Do just what you proposed. I have thought over it, 
 and it's the thing." 
 
 The column was moving at a trot. 
 
 " Half a mile ! " cried Usher, and his companions fol- 
 lowed him at a gallop. 
 
 On the summit of a high hill whence they looked east- 
 ward West called for slower speed. 
 
 " Far enough ahead, boys. Now, Sergeant, the major 
 gives you charge of the advance. If you run into the 
 Yankees before we get down to the pike, you may get 
 away if you can ; but you must make a big noise that can 
 be heard behind you. If you should be taken, your uni- 
 forms will make 'em think Stuart is coming. Tell 'em 
 you belong to Lee's brigade. Squire is to go first ; you 
 four boys behind Squire a hundred yards ; I ride behind 
 you a hundred yards. Now, Squire, you mustn't let us 
 run into any trap ; you must go first, you hear ? " 
 
 " Yassah , de good book hit say de las' gwine to go 
 fust, but I dunno whah you all is a-gwine to, an' I dunno 
 whah to tuhn off, an' I dunno whah not to tuhn off." 
 
 " Don't turn off at all unless we let you know. We'll
 
 THE PARTISANS 319 
 
 keep you in sight, and won't let you go wrong. And 
 after a while we're going slow, and then I'm going to tell 
 you more. And if you do this job up brown you're going 
 to get more horses than you can take keer of the major 
 says you shall have a full share. Now light out ! " 
 
 Old Squire lit out. It is true that he was nervous 
 enough, but looking back he saw his master and his mas- 
 ter's friends following in speaking distance, and he was 
 comforted. 
 
 West, clad as a civilian, rode some eighty yards behind 
 Morgan's squad ; close behind West came four other men 
 in Confederate uniform ; behind these, but almost half a 
 mile away, rode Mosby, ever active in improving and pre- 
 serving order. 
 
 ***### 
 
 A train of forty wagons was on its way from Alexan- 
 dria to Warrenton, with supplies for General Meade's 
 army, under the protection of a squadron of cavalry. 
 The first night there had been a halt at Fairfax, where 
 there was a strong force ; now the train was two days out 
 from Alexandria ; by noon of the next day it would be 
 safe in Warrenton. The ground where the wagons had 
 been parked was of irregular shape a stream flowing in 
 a loop at the east, a stream with steep banks, within the 
 loop an excellent ground for the protection of the train. 
 On the far side of the creek pickets had been posted, the 
 main body of cavalry being held a little to the right of 
 the Warrenton pike, pickets north and south of the road, 
 west also, in the woods. There was but the minimum of 
 apprehension, for the force was sufficient to overpower
 
 320 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 any gang of bushwhackers that might be supposed to 
 infest the mountains, while Stuart's entire division of 
 cavalry was known to be south of the Rappahannock ; 
 as for Mosby, he had been heard of beyond the Blue 
 Ridge only the day before. 
 
 The fires, kindled for cooking only, had long since died 
 out, but in the open the white covers of the wagons were 
 distinct in the starlight. Right of the road were the 
 picketed horses of the squadron two long rows side by 
 side, now and then some raw recruit of a horse expressing 
 the restiveness not yet subdued by the discipline of weary 
 marches and short provender. Between the wagons and 
 the rows of horses lay a group of officers, their horses, 
 only four, picketed close in their rear. 
 
 Braying mules had ceased to bray, and there was little 
 noise in the camp, the men having long ago settled down 
 to rest. Earlier, a small body of cavalry, protecting 
 ambulances loaded with sick, had passed through from 
 Warrenton en route to Alexandria. These people had 
 told that they would encamp beyond Gainesville ; the 
 weather was hot and the sick men could stand the 
 journey better in the early hours of the day and night. 
 
 The sentinel on the Warrenton pike, west of the camp, 
 thought that the time for his relief was long in coming. 
 He had stood here from seven until nine, then had 
 rested until one ; the sun would rise but little after 
 five, and he imagined that he could see signs of day 
 a mere fancy of impatience, for his relief would not 
 come until three ; but then, you know, the hours of 
 sentry duty, after a hot march in the long days, drag
 
 THE PARTISANS 321 
 
 themselves out beyond all sense or reason, and it was 
 only natural for this man to swear, and wonder if all 
 the guard had gone to sleep and left him here to do 
 more than his duty. 
 
 The sound of hoof-beats almost succeeded in interrupt- 
 ing a yawn. " Comin' at last," he thought. 
 
 He straightened up on his horse in order to appear 
 vigilant and to receive the sergeant with appropriate 
 ceremony. 
 
 The sound had died away. "Just now started, by 
 God ! " he muttered, and sank almost double again, his 
 chin on his breast. 
 
 But the chin remained thus low for only a moment. 
 From the southwest, toward Meade's army, there had 
 come to the sentinel's ear confused sounds sounds such 
 as he had heard when, left on post, his own company 
 had ridden by on a hard road far at his front, sounds 
 such as he had heard in this night, when the cavalry 
 escort of the ambulances had approached his post. 
 
 Yet these noises also died away, or at least he heard 
 them no longer mentally, his head now full of an ap- 
 proaching object, which soon took the form of a mounted 
 man. . . . "Who comes there?" he cried. 
 
 " Yassah, hit's me, sah ; 'tain't nobody but me, sah. 
 Doezh zhu want me to giddown off o' dis ole mule, 
 Mahsta ? " 
 
 " No ; stand right there till I call the corporal," and 
 then he opened his mouth to cry louder for the corporal 
 of the guard. But he did not cry. 
 
 From his rear a low voice had spoken. " Dismount,
 
 322 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 and hand over your arms ! You are surrounded ! Be 
 quiet, or you are gone ! " 
 
 His head had gone round at the instant . . . three 
 men were between him and his camp . . . footmen, with 
 pieces levelled. He hesitated . . . his eyes turned to 
 the front . . . there the one man had grown into the 
 road-full. 
 
 " Dismount ! " came the command again, nearer, and 
 he saw the three men around him. 
 
 Then, quickly, Morgan with his seven uniforms passed 
 the sentinel. In half a minute Lieutenant Turner's sec- 
 tion of Mosby's column halted at the sentinel's post, and 
 remained there stiff in saddle. 
 
 The sergeant led his men afoot. He was seeking the 
 headquarters' group : at his right a great semicircle of 
 wagons ; at his left, beyond the roadway, the long rows 
 of picketed cavalry horses. 
 
 Now came the challenge from another sentinel, the 
 picket on the eastern road. Morgan could hear it but 
 dimly ; at the next instant a shot, and then the mad gal- 
 loping of Mosby's men from east and from west, as in both 
 directions they stormed forward to meet in the camp. 
 
 At once, everywhere within the bounds of that bivouac, 
 shouts of anger, of amazement, of entreaty, of terror, of 
 command ; men were running to their horses ; the team- 
 sters were springing from their wagons, others from 
 their places on the ground ; horses were stamping and 
 plunging, breaking their picket ropes and rushing here 
 and there in wildest fright ; shots were firing in every 
 quarter; disorder was supreme and yet increasing,
 
 THE PARTISANS 323 
 
 In the very beginning of the turmoil the captain com- 
 manding had sprung from sound sleep, pistol in hand; 
 he saw a group of men confronting him, weapons ready. 
 " Who are you ? Surrender ! " he cried. 
 
 " First Virginia cavalry ! Lee's brigade ! Stuart's 
 division ! " shouted Morgan in reply. " Surrender ! " 
 
 The captain hesitated. 
 
 " Ready ! Aim ! " 
 
 The levelled carbines fixed upon their targets ; one by 
 one all of the sleeping group had risen. 
 
 The captain threw down his arms, and the others fol- 
 lowed his example. 
 
 Without a head, the sleeping cavalrymen had become 
 mixed in hopeless tangle. Suddenly the cry rose started 
 by one stentorian voice, taken up by others whose heads 
 were cool, and who saw the meaning, saw that it was the 
 only hope for saving anything from the disaster, the cry 
 rose and spread : " Stampede ! stampede ! The woods ! 
 the woods ! " 
 
 A few of the teamsters had begun to hitch ; at the cry 
 of the stampede they dropped chain and bridle and rushed 
 away southward, some of them hiding behind the bank 
 of the creek until all was over. The cavalrymen who 
 lingered in an attempt to mount and ride were taken; 
 those who rushed afoot into the woods were safe from 
 pursuit. 
 
 Mosby's men were soon busy in ransacking the wagons. 
 The spot was too near the Federal army to hope that 
 all the material could be carried away into safety. Every- 
 body began to collect horses and mules, to be started on
 
 324 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 the return journey, each man exchanging his own beast for 
 any he liked better. The prisoners, numbering more 
 than thirty, were held together under guard; they, too, 
 must be mounted. Mosby had found valuable booty, 
 mainly medical stores, which required some sixteen 
 wagons to transport ; to these wagons double teams were 
 hitched ; all others were burnt. 
 
 Wearied by a night's ride, to which had been added 
 three hours of exhausting labour, the band started to 
 return. The men knew that rest could not be hoped for 
 until they had passed the Bull Run Mountains ; even 
 then they might have no rest; the proper care of the 
 prisoners and of the horses would demand extraordinary 
 exertion on the part of those whom Mosby should choose, 
 and who must attempt their delivery to Stuart, far away 
 covering Lee's infantry ; as to the others, a long rest was 
 looked for, with no duty but that of self-preservation 
 until Mosby should call them again from their hiding- 
 places.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE RETREAT 
 
 " Who would true valour see, 
 Let him come hither 1 " 
 
 i. BUNTAN. 
 
 IT was long after sunrise when the last raider left the 
 desolated camp, and Mosby could not doubt that tidings 
 of the disaster had reached the ears of more than one 
 Federal commander; for, besides the pickets who had 
 been posted at a distance from the main road, and who 
 would at once have ridden fast with the alarm, scores of 
 frightened men and frantic horses had rushed into the 
 darkness ; some of these men would have been able to 
 seize loose horses, and would be ready upon the arrival of 
 fresh help, however small the reinforcements might be, to 
 reorganize and join with any pursuing party. Mosby's 
 troubles had just begun. 
 
 Indeed, it is an easy thing to effect a panic of sleeping 
 men ; one man afoot is better than a thousand such ; a 
 frightened cow has been known to stampede a brigade of 
 infantry. You have fought well in open battle ; you 
 have caught the flag as your comrade fell, and have 
 carried it aloft and far to the front and felt no dimming 
 of ardour ; but you unbuckle your arms, and you lie down 
 
 325
 
 326 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 to sleep, and from dreams of home you wake in blackness 
 total but for specks of light at the mouths of the enemy's 
 guns environing ; you hear their war-cry while yours is 
 silent; you know not whether half your comrades are 
 still alive, or whether your commander is in the hands of 
 the foe whose successful advance means complete suprem- 
 acy ; your first sane thought is how to escape, and you 
 are a cool-headed and brave-hearted man if you have even 
 that thought. 
 
 The surprise had been easy ; to retire with safety would 
 be difficult. It is no wonder that Major Mosby's exploits, 
 for a great part, began brilliantly and ended in sorrow 
 always, nevertheless, with the effect of great disturbance to 
 his enemies. His profession was that of destruction with a 
 greater purpose than to destroy to demoralize. And, 
 although his failures to save what he captured were 
 many, yet it must be confessed that more than one such 
 failure was to his credit he abandoned his booty in 
 order to save his men. 
 
 And on this morning he knew that his own place was 
 at the rear, and until his column should be beyond the 
 reach of pursuit, his feeling must be all of suspense and 
 none of gratulation. For the moment he had spread a 
 sense of insecurity in the minds of his enemies, in more or 
 less degree in the whole of Meade's army; but unless he 
 should succeed in bringing off his band, this feeling of his 
 enemies would be changed into satisfaction because of his 
 future inability to endanger them. Then, too, not only 
 his men must surely be saved, but his booty also must be 
 saved if possible ; though by its early sacrifice he should
 
 THE RETREAT 327 
 
 be able to disband his men and thus insure their individ- 
 ual safety, such sacrifice must inevitably tend to the 
 abandonment of the partisan warfare which was of so 
 great value ; for how could he or others hope to sustain 
 the spirit necessary for these enterprises if they were not 
 in a measure successful to the individuals engaged in 
 them ? Doubtless he would willingly have burnt every 
 dollar's worth of his booty if at the same time he could 
 have known that his men would follow him on his next 
 raid with their accustomed zeal. He knew that it could 
 not be ; he must endeavour at any cost, except that of his 
 organization, to carry off into the mountains value suffi- 
 cient to keep the spirit at a high level. 
 
 The wagons retained were lightly loaded for part 
 with medical stores which Lee's army greatly needed, for 
 other parts with implements and clothing. Progress was 
 rapid ; though the men were weary, they were in a high 
 state of elation. The prisoners had dwindled to less than 
 twenty ; in the confusion incident to such an exploit 
 escapes are easy and numerous. Only the officers were 
 well guarded, the teamsters being forced to handle their 
 teams and to drive them in the service of their cap- 
 tors. 
 
 Far at the front West rode, the advance following ; far 
 at the rear Morgan and Sency, yet with old Squire be- 
 hind them, his invaluable services having been proved at 
 the pistol's mouth. Even granted that Squire be taken, 
 confidence was felt that he could make his way with his 
 captors ; for the only man, the sentinel, who could have 
 told of Squire's part in the surprise was a prisoner. On
 
 328 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 either hand, parallel with the column, moved scouts 
 familiar with the country. 
 
 Armstrong had shown more than his customary reck- 
 lessness ; now he seemed utterly indifferent ; while other 
 men's faces and speech gave evidence of joy over success 
 or at times manifested eagerness in respect to the march 
 into safety, he rode silent and expressionless. 
 
 Mosby pushed the retreat with all his vigour ; he knew 
 the telegraph would carry the news to every Federal com- 
 mander in the district, Warrenton, Fairfax, perhaps 
 even Gainesville ; from Gainesville a force might pursue ; 
 from Fairfax a force would endeavour to intercept him. 
 He must strain every nerve . . . could it be possible for 
 a swift rider to carry the news to Aldie in time for the 
 Federal cavalry there to throw themselves across his 
 path? He must strain every nerve. 
 
 To guard his prisoners and lead the captured horses 
 had demanded half his force. Mosby now had but forty 
 unencumbered men ; yet forty were sufficient provided 
 he should not be forced to fight. Sometimes the teams 
 went downhill at a gallop ; oh, for the clear passage of 
 the Aldie pike ! 
 
 Old Squire kept Morgan just in sight ; the negro was 
 mounted on a stout and swift horse many were the stout 
 and swift horses that were yet loose in the woods, to be 
 ridden by any man who might secure them. 
 
 Usher West, also, was well mounted : all unserviceable 
 or weak animals had been abandoned. West rode far at 
 the front, and at every new stretch of the way he rode 
 fast ; four holsters hung at his saddle. Usher West, the
 
 THE RETREAT 329 
 
 extreme front, was more than a mile in advance of 
 Squire. 
 
 Mosby rode in no one place ; his great horse carried 
 him toward the front, where he would urge the men to 
 steady work ; then he would halt, and, as the wagons 
 passed, command the teamsters to drive till their teams 
 dropped dead ; when the teams had passed, again he gal- 
 loped to the front, ever pressing the flight, making for the 
 gap in the mountains, which he knew he could defend at 
 least until darkness should enable him to reward his men ; 
 after, dispersion could not be commanded too soon. 
 
 West avoided Haymarket. Oh, that he had known ! 
 the Federal cavalry force that for two days had been 
 there in bivouac had been withdrawn ; he lost a mile. 
 He went on by-roads in a detour and came again into the 
 road for the gap ; then, looking back, he halted, for he 
 saw no follower. It was ten o'clock after. West heard 
 shots far to the rear. The pursuit had not only begun it 
 had struck the column. 
 
 Yet West remained stationary. 
 
 In the rear old Squire had seen mounted men cut in 
 between him and Morgan a squad of but half a dozen ; 
 had seen Morgan's men turn in their saddles ; had seen and 
 heard the fire of both parties ; had seen Morgan's men yet 
 stand as though to invite closer contest ; then he had taken 
 to the woods at his right. 
 
 The advance guard under Lieutenant Turner, at a dis- 
 tance following West, had been commanded to reenforce 
 the main body. With show of strength Mosby must give 
 his pursuers pause. The train and the led horses went
 
 330 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 on, but under feeble guard. A front attack would prove 
 ruin. 
 
 Mosby was now at the rear farther to the rear than 
 Turner's men back with Morgan. 
 
 " How many were there, Sergeant ? " 
 
 "Very few, sir ; I counted only six," was the reply. 
 
 " If the same crowd shows up again, you must charge 
 them," cried Mosby, and rode again to the front, urging as 
 he rode. West had started had seen the wagons coming. 
 
 " West," says Mosby, anxiously, " all I fear now is that 
 man Freeman off there by Aldie." 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but it would be a pure accident that threw 
 him across our road." 
 
 " I don't know so well about that and accidents will 
 happen." 
 
 "Two hours more, Major, and we'll be all right." 
 
 " Yes but the two hours. Well, we don't howl yet ! 
 And if Freeman hasn't come down this way I don't 
 know the man that can stop us. Morgan drove back 
 their advance and they will be very cautious." 
 
 " How many were there, Major ? " 
 
 " Only a small squad." 
 
 " Plenty more behind," West exclaimed. 
 
 " Yes, but they'll be slow. They think we're the First 
 Virginia," said Mosby. 
 
 The column had become more compact ; the speed was a 
 little slower, and soon must become quite slow, for the 
 road would ascend the hills. 
 
 " If Freeman should try to stop us, Major ? " 
 
 "Then we must throw everything we've got right on him
 
 THE RETREAT 331 
 
 without giving him time to get help," said the commander, 
 sternly. 
 
 Again there were shots at the rear, and again Mosby had 
 gone. 
 
 The Federals showed stronger, a full platoon, more than 
 equalling the raider's rear-guard. They were advancing 
 rapidly, and to Morgan it was evident that their confidence 
 came from the knowledge of near support. 
 
 Armstrong was no longer indifferent ; he was raging. 
 
 " Dan, let's have it out with 'em ! " 
 
 " No, Charley ; not unless they force us." 
 
 The retreat of the rear-guard had become a walk ; be- 
 hind them the Federals were advancing at a trot some 
 four hundred yards between. 
 
 " Dan, you see that bend yonder ? " cried Armstrong. 
 
 " Yes ; when we get there, we'll run for it and gain 
 ground." 
 
 " No, by God ! If I had ten men behind me like you've 
 got, I'd try 'em right there ! " 
 
 Three hundred yards separated the parties. The bend 
 was fifty yards away . . . forty yards . . . thirty yards. 
 
 The pursuers commenced firing ; Armstrong halted, and 
 faced them. Morgan, failing to see Armstrong's act, passed 
 on with the force, but in ten yards he became aware that 
 his friend was not at his side ; he looked around, and 
 saw Armstrong stiff in his saddle. 
 
 " Dan, I'm a-thinkin' he's a-goin' to make us stop here," 
 cried Lewis. 
 
 " Charley ! " shouted the sergeant, " come back here, I 
 command you ! "
 
 332 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Armstrong seemed not to hear ; Morgan, seeing him 
 draw sabre, spurred his horse, caught his friend's bridle, 
 and drew him away. The pursuers fired ; their shouts 
 were heard. 
 
 "Dan ! " yelled Armstrong, seemingly wild, " for God's 
 sake, let's stop here and charge 'em ! " 
 
 Morgan said nothing. The men had seen, and were 
 wondering what Armstrong would do next. Sency and 
 Joe Lewis rode in Charley's rear. 
 
 But behind the bend Armstrong again halted. Sency 
 cried to Morgan : " Better have it out here, Dan ! It's 
 got to come soon, anyhow; and Charley's giving us 
 trouble ! " 
 
 Morgan ordered his men to scatter in the bushes, and 
 to charge pistol in hand when he should give the word. 
 
 And now the Federals, believing that beyond the bend 
 the slow retreat would suddenly become swift, came on in 
 disorderly haste. 
 
 As the first blue horseman rode into view, Morgan 
 signalled by pulling trigger ; but even before the shot 
 startled his men into activity, Armstrong urged on with 
 a shout, his sabre pointing, leaning forward for action, 
 neither stiffly erect nor bending aside, eager to strike, 
 careless to avoid. 
 
 At the signal a dozen pistol shots had bewildered the 
 Federals ; then, unready, they were instantly charged and 
 thrown into confusion, suffering the loss of a third of their 
 numbers ; and as the remnant fled, the Confederates pur- 
 sued, Armstrong ever in the lead, Morgan long vainly 
 striving to recall him when the pursuit had become 
 unwise.
 
 THE RETREAT 333 
 
 The rear-guard slowly withdrew, passing without con- 
 cern the dead and wounded of the Federals. 
 
 But the check had not accomplished safety. From far 
 away, where a flying battery had been planted, shells be- 
 gan to scream over the wagons. The road curved right 
 and left in its ascent, making plain targets for the rifled 
 cannon on somewhat lower ground. The third wagon 
 from the rear was struck ; at once the teamsters cut loose 
 the mules and kept on ; three wagons had been abandoned. 
 Then Mosby attempted ruse. He commanded the team- 
 sters to drive on ; in rear of the wagons he formed all his 
 men in double file, and at their head rode six times in a 
 slow walk around an open bend, making six circles, half 
 of each circle hidden in the woods where he galloped in 
 order to overtake the slow-moving few who were visible 
 to his enemies. Meantime the cannon continued to pound, 
 but the distance was great, and the elevation was at each 
 instant more impracticable. 
 
 Unless the partisan should find a force in front blocking 
 his way, there was now no cause to fear the pursuit; he 
 drew Morgan and more than half his men forward, follow- 
 ing West closely. Half a mile more and he must cross 
 the junction of the roads, and once past that cross-road he 
 might snap his fingers at his enemies. From his elevated 
 position he could see with his glass a troop of horse halted 
 two miles at the south ; they had given up the chase, or 
 they were delaying for a purpose for what purpose? 
 To deceive the Confederates, who thus would be tempted 
 to slower march and so give time for other Federals to 
 intercept? He decided to urge forward more rapidly.
 
 334 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 The loss of a minute at the junction might prove ruin. 
 He turned and again sought the front; but before his 
 gaze quit the south he saw the Federal horsemen begin 
 to move on. 
 
 Mosby rode past Lieutenant Turner's men and then 
 past Morgan's men; and as he rode he cried to both to 
 keep all well in hand, and to seize upon the junction and 
 hold it till the last man had gone by. He kept on, and 
 now saw West ahead steadily moving ; he would ride 
 with West, anxiety so pressing him that every moment's 
 doubt was cumulative torture. It was not more than 
 three hundred yards to the junction was the crossing 
 clear? 
 
 West was yet two hundred yards in Mosby's front, and 
 going steadily. 
 
 Mosby turned in his saddle ; he saw Morgan leading 
 on, not twenty rods away, Armstrong by his side ; and 
 at the instant saw Armstrong raise his hand in the air, 
 and also saw Morgan's hand go up. He turned again, 
 and as he turned he saw the smoke from West's pistol ; 
 saw West's horse reined back on his haunches ; saw the 
 road full of blue troopers in striking distance of his guide ; 
 saw West's horse fall ; and, all at the same moment, saw 
 also the fall of the foremost Federal. 
 
 A great shout came from Mosby's rear Morgan was 
 charging. 
 
 Mosby knew that West was down, and was a prisoner 
 or dead. He waited but a moment. Morgan's men were 
 coming at the variable speed of thirty horses better let 
 them close " Steady, men ! " then, " All together ! "
 
 THE RETREAT 335 
 
 Morgan had not stopped, but his speed had lessened. 
 Armstrong with drawn sabre had swept on. 
 
 Twenty paces in Armstrong's rear Mosby was now lead- 
 ing two-thirds of his band against Freeman's company 
 ready in the junction no, not ready. 
 
 The numbers were nearly equal. Mosby had the great 
 advantage of present momentum the other, that of 
 physical strength unabated. 
 
 But Freeman's position was the worst he could have 
 chosen ; indeed, he had not chosen he had but reached 
 the spot. There was no time to take position, or time to 
 meet charge in column with charge in column. His men 
 had but fronted in line the centre on the road up which 
 Mosby was charging eight deep, woods and steep hillside 
 on either hand. 
 
 Armstrong was in the thick of careering horsemen ; 
 his second blow had not been struck when Mosby, Morgan, 
 Sency, Lewis, were all at his back. The Federals in the 
 open road room there for but few had fired their 
 pistols without lessening the impact of the charge. No 
 doubt as to the momentary result the column pierced the 
 line, cutting Freeman's company in two, part fleeing down 
 the mountain, other part to the west. The crossing was 
 encumbered with fallen men and horses. 
 
 But Mosby must turn the Federals on both wings 
 were seeking to rally and reunite and as he came back 
 he found the enemy again in his road, and growing stronger 
 at each moment. 
 
 Yet the struggle was short. Freeman's men, one-half 
 without leadership, for Brock had fallen by West's first
 
 336 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 fire, were unable to hold together. Freeman himself had 
 been unhorsed, and though his men had remounted him, he 
 was hardly able now to sit his saddle. The return charge 
 of the raiders easily scattered their enemies, who fled down 
 the mountain road to the east just as Mosby's reserve 
 reached the scene of conflict. 
 
 Three Confederates had fallen ; more than twice as 
 many were suffering from wounds. A Federal lieutenant 
 was among the dead. The wounded on both sides, as well 
 as Mosby's dead, were placed in the wagons. Six prisoners 
 had been added to those already captured. The retreat 
 continued, but it was no longer a flight. 
 
 Before sunset Mosby reached safety. And the night 
 grew, and waned, and the sun again shone ; but from 
 Morgan's squad, Usher and old Squire were still missing.
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 A FLASK FOE TWO 
 
 " Ber. Who's there ? 
 Fran. Nay, answer me ! Stand and unfold yourself ! " 
 
 SH A KESPE ARE. 
 
 SAFE, at least for the time, old Squire heard the Fed- 
 eral cavalry march by on the road. It was clear as the 
 sun that he could not overtake Mosby until that leader 
 should halt, and he saw no indications but those of con- 
 tinued flight and pursuit ; so he determined quickly that 
 the best thing for him to do was to return to Mr. West's, 
 whither his master, or at least Usher, would not long 
 delay his coming. 
 
 He was in the woods. Just how far he must go he 
 knew not, or the precise direction, but Bull Run Moun- 
 tain was before him ; once on its high western slope he 
 would be able to see villages and roads, and make his 
 way ; the mountains, in many places, he already knew. 
 He went northwest, keeping prudently in the woods. 
 His horse was a good one, but would need feeding. As 
 for his own needs he was armed with a Federal haversack 
 which he had not yet explored. 
 
 After a time he heard cannon, not near enough to 
 perturb him on his own account, but it gave him fear for 
 z 337
 
 338 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Mahs Chahley ; his course had led him too far from the 
 pursuit to enable him to hear the sound of small arms. 
 He became extremely cautious ; in his uncertainty of the 
 whereabouts of all Federals, he advanced only after look- 
 ing in every direction ; he must cross the road on which 
 the Federals were moving, but not yet ; he would go slow 
 until safe in the mountain. 
 
 Toward noon he found a small grassy glade in the 
 midst of the low woods. The spot was very inviting. 
 He was hungry, and his horse strained at the bridle to 
 crop the good grass ; a small brook ran near by. 
 
 He dismounted and picketed his horse to graze ; then 
 he sat down and rummaged his haversack. 
 
 " Oohm, hahdtack, man w'at fixed up dis dam stuff 
 didn't had no likin' f eh ole Squiah, oohm, salt pohk, 
 I not a-gwine to run f 'om dat, oohm, cawfy an' sugah 
 all mixed up an' w'at dis in de big bottle ? Hit shake 
 lak some'h'm good feh true." 
 
 He unscrewed the cover of the metal flask and smelt. 
 
 " Oohmoo ! dat dess lak dat med'cin' Doctoh guv me. 
 Hit mek me fohgit all my troubles." 
 
 Squire did not make himself entirely drunk, neither 
 was he able to preserve complete sobriety. When he got 
 his consent to leave the spot, the sun was descending 
 toward the mountain tops ; he had slept ; his horse had 
 ceased to eat the tall grass. 
 
 He replaced in his haversack the remains of his food, 
 and the big flask atop. 
 
 An hour more and he had begun to go up the mountain 
 side ; and now he concluded, after renewing his courage,
 
 A FLASK FOR TWO 339 
 
 that it was no longer needful to keep the thick woods, for 
 here before him was a good open way seemingly untravelled 
 for long, leading in the right direction ; he took it and 
 went on more rapidly, for he wanted to attain the western 
 side of the range while yet there should be good light. 
 
 Around him, seemingly unconcerned at the nearness or 
 at the noise of the great four-footer that could not climb, 
 squirrels were chattering ; one of them scampered across 
 the way, his tail bent in the most ultra fashionable of con- 
 volutions, and hung motionless three feet from earth on 
 the bole of a great oak ; Squire watched him. 
 
 When the negro's eyes next rested on the path before 
 him, he halted a man was in the way. 
 
 Sunlight had not yet gone in the valley, but here in 
 the woods the mountain shadow was gloomy, and Squire 
 at first glance was unable to know more than that the 
 man was afoot and in blue, and seemed unarmed. The 
 face was hidden by a drooping bough very near it ; yet 
 Squire could see that the stranger's front was presented, 
 and it required no great reasoning to determine that the 
 blue man had a mighty coign of vantage in relation to 
 that leafy branch through which undoubtedly he was 
 peering at the more distant horseman. 
 
 There was, however, in the stranger's attitude an in- 
 describable something an indeterminate quality akin to 
 hesitation, yet greater. Yes, Squire had no sooner seen 
 the man than he resolved not to flee ; for the man surely, 
 though motionless, radiated, as it were, a subtile evince- 
 ment of tremulous alarm. 
 
 Squire himself was first to speak :
 
 MO OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Mahsta, kin you tell me ef you is seed any stray 
 bosses ? " 
 
 The man came forward ; his right hand was performing 
 violent and mysterious action in the air ; in his left was a 
 bunch of live chickens. 
 
 " Well, I swaih to God if it ain't shu, Unc Squiah ! " 
 
 " De Je-e-e-susgawd ! " exclaimed the old man, holding 
 out his hand. " Bahney, you fool niggeh, I sho' is proud 
 to see you a-lookin' so hahty ! I sot on my boss right 
 sheah, an' I says, says I, ' Dat man yandeh he done plum 
 got los' an' he dunuo whah to go, an' so I nee'n' to be 
 skeehed o' him, an' bless Gawd, Bahney, I tuck you feh 
 a w'ite man, dess 'cazhe yo' black skin hit done hide 
 behime de bush. But, bless Gawd, I is glad to see you, 
 an' to see you a-lookin' so peaht ! Whah you gwine, 
 Bahney ? " and Squire's voice was not devoid of suspicion. 
 
 " I ain't a-gwine nowhah now, Unc Squiah ; I done 
 be'n. An' all I got to do is to git back. But I swaih 
 to God, heah you is oncet mo'e, when I ain't neveh been 
 expectin' to see you no mo'e." 
 
 Squire gave an indescribable motion of the head, indi- 
 cating a complexity of ideas. 
 
 " Whaffuh you say dat, niggeh ? You be'n a-lookin' to 
 heah dat I done daid ? You be'n a-cockin' up yo' yeahs 
 to heah dat ? You betteh be a-tekkin' keeh o' yo' own 
 skin. Now, I let shu know dat." 
 
 " Now, Unc Squiah, don't shu go to gittin' riled about 
 nothin'," says Barney, evidently desiring to conciliate ; 
 " you jest git down an' step out here in de bresh an' I'll 
 tell you some'h'm."
 
 A FLASK FOR TWO 341 
 
 " An' whah izh yo' camp at, Bahney ? I be'n a-heahin' 
 dat shu hole on to dat Cap'm Freeman oncet mo'e." 
 Squire's gaze was still full upon Barney's face. 
 
 " Yes, Unc Squiah ; I had to hole on to him yit, 'caze 
 it so fuh back down whah I got to go to. Git right 
 down an' come along out in de bresh. De's be'n some 
 tumble gwines-on dis day, an' I sho' is mighty glad to 
 fall in with you oncet mo'e." 
 
 Although Squire was suspicious, yet not a trace of 
 reluctance was in his mind concerning possible danger 
 of betrayal by this brother in a freemasonry old as the 
 race ; he dismounted and followed Barney. 
 
 " I sho' is glad to fall in with you ag'in, Unc Squiah, 
 I sho' is," Barney repeated, looking, too, as though he 
 meant what he said ; " I be'n a-heahin' about shu, an' I 
 be'n skeehed dat some wrongdom was a-hatchin', 'caze I 
 knowed dat my name done git to yo' folks, 'caze I helped 
 one of 'em out oveh yondeh, an' I be'n a-wantin' to see you." 
 
 " Whaffuh you want to see me, chile ? " asked the old 
 man, kindly. 
 
 " 'Caze I knowed my name done got to yo' folks, Unc 
 Squiah. Ain't shu done heahed about me f'om yo' folks ? " 
 asked Barney, anxiously. 
 
 " Cou'se I is, chile ; Mahs Dan he done tell me all 'bout 
 seein' you oveh yandeh in Mellan' an' Penns'vania, an' he 
 say he gwine to look out an' pay you back ; dat w'at Mahs 
 Dan say." 
 
 " He tell you 'bout how I helped him out, Unc Squiah ? " 
 
 " Yas, chile, cou'se he do. Mahs Dan he don't hide 
 nothin' f'om me ! " the old man exclaimed proudly.
 
 342 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " But, Unc Squiah, I's jest been afeahed dat de cap'm'd 
 heah about dat," and Barney shook his head and seemed 
 restless with his thought. 
 
 " How he gwine to heah ? " asked Squire, assurance in 
 his tone. " Kin he heah Mahs Dan talk six mile ? " 
 
 " But den he mought tell somebody what'd tell de 
 cap'm," returned the younger negro, uneasily. 
 
 " You feahed o' me, Bahney ? You feahed o' me ? You 
 nee'n' to be feahed o' me, chile ; I de bes' frien' you got 
 anywhah, Bahney," and old Squire had spoken as though 
 he was laying down a proposition incapable of denial. 
 
 " Cou'se I ain't afeahed o' you, Unc Squiah, and all I 
 axes you to do is to ax Mm not to talk." 
 
 " Mahs Dan ain't no talkin' man, chile ; but I gwine 
 to ax him fuh you, Bahney. Ain't we got fuh 'nough, 
 Bahney ? " 
 
 " Yes, Unc Squiah, you jest tie yo' hoss, an' I gwine 
 to tell you some'h'm. Now le's set down right sheah ; an' 
 you needn't be afeahed, feh dey ain't no man in three mile 
 dat shu got any call to be afeahed of. You jest set down. 
 Whose hoss is dat shu got ? " 
 
 " Mine ; de cap'm done say he mine feh good. You 
 heah de cannon to-day, chile ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, Unc Squiah, an' I done seed wuss'n dat ! 
 An' dat's jest what I gwine to tell you 'bout. You know 
 Lieutenant Brock ? He dead. You know Laffney ? He 
 dead. You know Jinkins ? He done dead. You know 
 O'Donnell ? He dead. You know Hawley ? Yo' folks 
 is got him, an' Freeman he got Usheh West." The 
 deliverance of this speech was oratorical and effective ;
 
 A FLASK FOR TWO 343 
 
 at each successive gesture Squire had swayed his body 
 forth or back. 
 
 " Gawdamighty, how you does go awn ! " exclaimed the 
 old man. 
 
 " Hit's de troof ; an' if it ain't I hope I may die." 
 
 " Dat Hirish is daid ? " 
 
 " Dead as Adam's gran'daddy. An' I ain't de leas' bit 
 sorry not feh Aim, noh feh Jinkins, but, Unc Squiah, 
 Misteh Brock he a good man to me, an' my bes' frien' in 
 de comp'ny is done gawn." 
 
 " But whah izh yo' comp'ny at now, Bahney ? " asked 
 Squire, a possible danger recurring to his mind. 
 
 " What dat smell so good, Unc Squiah ? You be'n 
 eat'n sugah ? " 
 
 The old man slowly brought out his flask. 
 
 " Tetch it light, boy ; hit's mighty pow'ful, an' I don't 
 want to see you mek a fool o' yo'se'f." 
 
 ..." Sho' dat is good ! Uhmoo ! Unc Squiah, I be'n 
 heahin' about shu. Dat man Hawley done tole de cap'm 
 dat he see you up dah on de Ridge, an' I be'n sawteh ex- 
 pectin' an' a-hopin' to meet up with you ag'in. Now, you 
 done ax me whah is de comp'ny, an' I gwine to tell you ; 
 hit's right oveh yondeh, jest about three mile but hit 
 ain't in no fix to git skeehed at, feh if eveh you seed a 
 comp'ny dat's done got a belly-full o' fightin' hit's dat 
 same comp'ny. An' I gwine to tell you right now, Unc 
 Squiah, dat if ev'ything goes on lak it do to-day, den 
 Ginnle Lee's a-gwine to come back dis a-way befo'e cawn 
 pullin' time. Whah wuzh you at w'en dey wus a-fight- 
 in' ? "
 
 344 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Lawd, chile, I's a-way back yandeh ; so fuh dat I 
 couldn't heah noth'n' but de big gun. You know ef 
 Mahs Chahley git huht ? " The question had been asked 
 indifferently as to manner, yet Squire now held his breath. 
 
 " Dat I don't know ; but yo' folks jest up an' went 
 th'ough ouan jest lak a doset o' salts. Twicet. An' dey 
 didn't lef a man behind 'em excusin' of Usheh West." 
 
 " An' dey got Mahs Usheh ? How come you know 
 fo'w, Bahney?" 
 
 " 'Gaze I be'n to de house with Cap'm Freeman, an' I 
 heah Doctoh Lacy talk ; de doctoh knowed 'im jest as 
 soon as he laid eyes on 'im." 
 
 " You know dat doctoh, too ? " Again Squire's tone 
 indicated a lack of interest. 
 
 "Yes, I be'n a-knowin' him mighty nigh on to two 
 yeah." 
 
 " You heah him say ef he know me ? " 
 
 " No, Unc Squiah ; I ain't neveh heahed him call yo' 
 name." 
 
 " 'Gaze I tell you why, Bahney. You know dat time I 
 put my han' on somebody ? " 
 
 " I ain't neveh gwine to fohgit it, Unc Squiah, an' dat's 
 jest what make me say I so mighty glad to see yo' face 
 oncet mo'e." 
 
 " Yas, chile ; cou'she you is," said the old man, slowly, 
 not greatly delighted at the implication, yet feeling no 
 revengeful desire to turn the tables on Barney. " Cou'she 
 you is ; ain't dat doctoh a mighty smaht man, Bahney ? " 
 
 " Yes, he mighty smaht in some places, dat he is ; but 
 den ag'in he ain't got de sense of a louse."
 
 A FLASK FOR TWO 345 
 
 " He de smahtes' man right now in ole Fihginny," ex- 
 claimed Squire, almost angrily. 
 
 " Yes, sah ; he smaht a plenty in what he b'longs to ; 
 but den ag'in he don't know de fust toot on de big brass 
 hawn." 
 
 " He de smahtes' man in dis whole wohl','' insisted the 
 old man, hotly. 
 
 " How come you know ? " asked Barney. 
 
 " Wy, ain't I be'n seed him ? Ain't I be'n a-wohkin' 
 up dah at Mahs Tom's fo' mo'e'n three weeks awff an' 
 awn ? An' ain't I heahed him talk ? You see me heah ? 
 You see me heah now, Bahney ? You see me ? " 
 
 " Yes, Unc Squiah ; cou'se I see you." 
 
 "An' ain't shu s'prise to see me ? Now, come, ain't shu 
 mighty s'prise to see me ? " 
 
 " Dat I is /" cried Barney, emphatically. "I jest as 
 soon expec' to meet my daddy what be'n dead even sence 
 I was knee high." 
 
 "An' you know de reason? You know de reason I 
 heah yit ? You don't ? Den I gwine to tell you. Hit's 
 dess 'caze I mek a mistake in countin'," Squire exclaimed 
 with all confidence. 
 
 " What de doctoh got to do with all dat ? " 
 
 " 'Caze he up an' he showed me how come dat I mek 
 dat mistake. He de smahtes' man, mine w'at I tell you, 
 Bahney, dat man he de smahtes' man dis side o' up 
 Yandeh ! You don't b'lieve it ? " 
 
 Barney slowly shook his head. "I ain't a-gwine to 
 'spute dat he ain't smaht, Unc Squiah ; but den, signs is 
 signs."
 
 346 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Yas, an' dat dess w'at he say, too ; an' he ain't a-sayin' 
 nothin' ag'in de signs. But shu see me heah now, don't 
 shu, Bahney ? " 
 
 Barney's assent seemed rather a protest against existing 
 conditions. " Hit mought be so," he said ; "cou'se I knows 
 dat as well as he does, dat ev'ybody can't alluz count 
 right ; but den ag'in dey ain't no use in fight'n' ag'in " 
 
 " Ag'in w'at, Bahney ? Don't shu see me heah ? " 
 
 " I got to go, Unc Squiah ; I got to git back. I's 
 mighty glad I see you oncet mo'e." 
 
 "But shu dess hole on, Bahney. I ain't quite done 
 wid ju yit. Tek anotheh mou'f'l o' dis, chile." 
 
 "Jest to please you, Unc Squiah, an' bein' as you got 
 so much." 
 
 "Now, Bahney, you done say one wohd dat I lak to 
 heah som'h'm mo'e about. You got Mahs Usheh ? " 
 
 "Yes, de cap'm done tuck him back to camp." 
 
 " An' did he git huht ? " 
 
 " He jest git stunted, dat's all ; an' dey done fotch him 
 to. But I tell you what, Unc Squiah, de cap'm he mighty 
 hot ; he say he gwine to make a sample." 
 
 " An' w'at he mean by dat ? " 
 
 " He say dezhe heah Mosby men dat ride about in 
 home-made clothes an' kill de Union men, he say dey 
 ain't fitten to live, an' he say dat he gwine to see dat 
 Misteh West don't kill no mo'e. Dat's what he mean. 
 He done kill de lieutenant, an' de cap'm say dat's de las' 
 man what he gwine to kill." 
 
 " An' you still sticks to dat man, Bahney ? " asked the 
 old negro in expostulation.
 
 A FLASK FOR TWO 347 
 
 " Unc Squiah, I done tole you I gwine back home jest 
 as soon as I can." 
 
 " Den now's de time. You kin dess go right along 
 wi' me." 
 
 " No, Unc Squiah, I can't go yit. I 'xpec' I've got to 
 wait tell Ginnle Lee comes back up dis a-way ; I've got 
 my things in de camp, an' de men dey owes me feh 
 washin' an' I can't go yit ; but you can jest count on my 
 gwine with you when Ginnle Lee's ahrny comes back." 
 
 " Den w'en you heah de big guns, chile, an' I sen' you 
 wohd, I gwine to look fuh you to meet me." 
 
 "I do it, Unc Squiah, sho', ef you jest sen' me de 
 wohd." 
 
 " You meet me up to de fawks o' de road, Bahney ? " 
 
 " What fawks shu talkin' 'bout, Unc Squiah ? " 
 
 " Up dah dess dis side o' Hopewell. 'Gaze we got to 
 go awn de yotheh side o' dis mounting, chile. Hit won't 
 do to go awn dis side you know dat, Bahney." 
 
 "Yes, cou'se I do, Unc Squiah." 
 
 " Den, Bahney, I gwine to look fuh you, dess es soon es 
 we heah Ginnle Lee a-comin' up dis a-way dess es soon 
 es we heah de big guns. You gwine to meet me, Bahney ? " 
 
 " Unc Squiah, I gwine to do it if you jest sen' me wohd. 
 If I don't, I hope I may die." 
 
 " Don't shu fret 'bout me not sennin' you no wohd, 
 chile. I sen' you de wohd all right. Good-by, Bahney ; 
 tek keeh o' yo'se'f, Bahney. I gwine to look fuh you. 
 An' yo' cap'm is a-gwine to shoot Mahs Usheh ? " 
 
 " Dat's jest de way he talks, Unc Squiah ; but don't 
 shu go to givin' me away."
 
 348 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Lawd, chile, you think old Squiah ain't got no 
 sense ? Ef you dess tek keeh o' yo'sef dat's all I ax. 
 I's got to go, Bahney. W'ich a-way is yo' camp ? " 
 
 Barney pointed. Both men had risen ; Squire's foot 
 was in the stirrup ; another instant he was in the saddle. 
 Then Barney stood alone, listening to the sounds of a fast 
 galloping horse. 
 
 " Look like Uric Squiah he git in a mighty big hurry 
 all at oncet," he thought.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 
 
 " How many score of miles may we well ride 
 'Twixt hour and hour ? " 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 FROM Freeman's camp a messenger, with a led horse, 
 had come for Dr. Lacy, whose skill was needed for the 
 wounded. 
 
 Junior Morgan was sitting on the porch with Mr. 
 West and Jennie ; night had almost come. The talk 
 was not cheerful ; son and brother had been in the fray, 
 of which the messenger could not say more than that 
 Freeman's cavalry had met Mosby's men, and that the 
 fight had been bloody. 
 
 " I hear hard riding," said Morgan. 
 
 There was no response ; all were listening. Mr. West 
 rose and went into the yard. 
 
 Morgan's wound was still giving him trouble, on this 
 day more than usual ; he had struck his shoulder against 
 the door. Jennie had already begged him not to sit 
 in the night air. 
 
 They saw Mr. West go out of the gate and take stand 
 there. Sounds of furious hoofs rang out on the pike 
 toward Aldie. Whoever it was he was riding for life. 
 
 349
 
 350 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Morgan rose, but he did not go out ... at the mouth 
 of the lane a dark spot showed, growing instantly larger 
 as a single horseman came at all speed. 
 
 Jennie rose and stood by Junior, a little in advance. 
 
 The horseman had halted before Mr. West. 
 
 " Dat shu, Mahs Tom ? " 
 
 " It's Uncle Squire," whispered the girl. 
 
 They saw a man dismount ; they heard speech in low 
 tones. 
 
 Mr. West was coming hurriedly back. Jennie saw 
 that he had not closed the gate, a neglect very unusual, 
 and her fears grew into torture ; she went down the 
 steps and met him. 
 
 "Oh, Father, what is it?" 
 
 Outside the yard Morgan saw a motionless horse, a 
 dismounted man standing. 
 
 Mr. West did not at once reply, and when he spoke 
 Jennie hardly knew the voice. 
 
 "Usher has been captured, my dear." 
 
 The words gave her a little relief. " Oh, but Father, 
 that is not as bad as it might be." 
 
 Again he was silent. He doubted whether to tell all 
 he had heard. But would it not be better for her to 
 know now than to be told suddenly when ? He decided 
 to speak; his daughter was strong. 
 
 "My dear, Squire says that before he was taken he 
 killed an officer, and that Captain Freeman has sworn to 
 to execute him." 
 
 " Mr. Morgan ! " she called, and Junior came quickly, 
 for the voice was distressful.
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 351 
 
 " Uncle Squire ! " she called, and the old man threw 
 his bridle over a paling and came forward. 
 
 "Now, Uncle Squire, please tell Lieutenant Morgan 
 all you know." 
 
 Squire gave the facts of his talk with Barney, conceal- 
 ing only his informant's name. 
 
 " Can you let me have a horse, Mr. West ? " 
 
 " Better two and drive you ought not to go horse- 
 back." 
 
 "Much quicker," said the lieutenant. 
 
 Mr. West went to his stable and chose his easiest 
 saddler and his best a favourite of his own. 
 
 " Uncle Squire, you must go with Mr. Morgan. Won't 
 you go for me?" 
 
 " Yas'm, I go anywhah you say, Miss Jinnie." 
 
 " There's no need of his going ; I can ride to Aldie 
 very well," said Junior. 
 
 " Yes, but I want Uncle Squire to go with you," she 
 said tearfully. 
 
 " Well, of course, if you wish it. I may be delayed ; 
 I can send him back with comfort to you. I have no 
 idea that Freeman would think for a moment of it." 
 
 Junior needed help to mount, but once in the saddle 
 he said he was comfortable ; the thing felt natural. The 
 pressure of Mr. West's hand enkindled the highest resolve. 
 
 They had started the negro riding close to Junior's 
 side. 
 
 After a while Mr. West said : " I wonder whose horse 
 that is that Squire is on. I never once thought to ask 
 him."
 
 352 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Junior Morgan in health was a great rider. He had 
 been in the First New York cavalry until McClellan's 
 advance to the Chickahorainy, and since that time he had 
 served as a courier in all of Pleasonton's campaigns until 
 he had received his wound. Now he let his horse go ; 
 for, although he was still very weak, and his enforced inac- 
 tion had stiffened him, yet the need was urgent and the 
 road was good. 
 
 Morgan spoke but little to the negro. He had seen 
 Squire at work about the house and yard, and had heard 
 Jennie and her father speak in great praise of his shrewd- 
 ness and his fidelity, but had never been with him alone 
 until this night. He took their word for it that the old 
 man had brought no false news, although he could not 
 think that Freeman would be so mad as to go to the 
 extremity of his power without first referring the awful 
 matter to his superiors. 
 
 Approaching Freeman's camp, Morgan commanded 
 Squire to fall behind and remain without. He an- 
 swered the sentinel's challenge, and was held until a 
 sergeant, who had been sent for, allowed him to come in. 
 He asked for Freeman, and learned that the captain had 
 already retired. Then he asked for Lacy, and was soon 
 in the doctor's presence. 
 
 " What," exclaimed the doctor, "you here, Morgan? I 
 was just going to send an ambulance to bring you." 
 
 They shook hands, Junior still in the saddle, the doctor 
 standing by. 
 
 " Is it true that Captain Freeman intends to shoot a a 
 prisoner ? " asked Junior in a halting voice.
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 353 
 
 " Horribly true. That is just what I was going to send 
 after you about. And it's young West ! " cried Lacy, in 
 growing excitement. 
 
 " Can I see Captain Freeman ? Can't you come at him, 
 Doctor ? " 
 
 " Morgan, I have already exhausted every argument. 
 He is firm worse, he is unreasonable. His head is 
 turned with his loss with his loss of Brock particularly. 
 I verily believe his reason is in danger ; he acts like a 
 madman. He has fixed the time for to-morrow at sun- 
 set." 
 
 " You know he has no such authority," cried Morgan. 
 " I could have no effect, you think ? " 
 
 "Not a particle. West was in civilian's clothes, and 
 killed poor Brock." 
 
 " But in open fight ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes ; West charged the whole company, it seems, 
 with no help nearer than pistol range. That young fellow 
 has deceived me badly ; but I'm not going to allow him to 
 be murdered. Now, mark my word, Morgan, I'm not 
 going to allow it." 
 
 " Have you said as much to Freeman ? " asked Junior, 
 mildly. 
 
 "Yes and enraged him. But I have an idea," added 
 Lacy, and he shook his hand violently in the direction of 
 the captain's tent. 
 
 " Tell me what it is, Doctor." 
 
 " Mosby has taken Hawley, who had already given his 
 parole. Don't you remember ? " 
 
 "Yes, my brother paroled him." 
 I*
 
 354 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Well, I want to get word to Mosby in some way. I'll 
 do it. I don't care if they cashier me. I'll be damned if 
 I let Freeman shoot West," and Lacy stamped his foot as 
 evidence of his earnestness. 
 
 " I see ; you want Mosby to threaten retaliation upon 
 Hawley," said Junior, calmly, almost dissuasively. He 
 doubted the wisdom of Lacy's policy. 
 
 " Exactly, and I'm going somehow to get word to him. 
 I'm going to tell Mr. West, and I'm sure he can find 
 Mosby." 
 
 "Doctor, don't go so far as to suggest action to Mr. 
 West. Let him know, however, that Mosby holds Haw- 
 ley ; that will be enough, I think." 
 
 " Well, won't you tell Mr. West ? " 
 
 " No, I'm going to Pleasonton." 
 
 "You?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "I forbid it, sir. It might be your death. I can't 
 think of allowing it, sir. You've already exerted yourself 
 too much." 
 
 " But, Doctor, you ought to know how close to me this 
 matter is, and I'll pledge you my word I'll be careful." 
 
 Perhaps Lacy knew that if uncompromising issue 
 should be joined, his own defeat was sure. He re- 
 sponded : 
 
 " Get somebody else, sir. You are in my charge, and I 
 can't allow it." 
 
 " Doctor, I promise you I won't go alone ; I'll take help. 
 But you ought to know that I can't trust any one to take 
 my place in this. And then you know that the general
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 355 
 
 will be pleased to see me again, and I'm not ready to 
 believe that he will wish to refuse me." 
 
 " What help can you take ? " 
 
 "Squire ; he came with me." 
 
 " I forbid your going," yet the tones were softer, and 
 Junior felt that his conciliatory speech had been better 
 than persevering in an open declaration of resolve. 
 
 " Doctor, what would I think of myself if I should leave 
 anything undone? Now, if you will manage your plan 
 while I try the general, I shall have great hope that we'll 
 succeed. And if I shouldn't go, and we should fail, you 
 know I could never forgive myself ; and you know there 
 are others who would never forgive." 
 
 " Go, Morgan ; I see you are determined to risk your 
 life ; " yet the voice was not harsh, for Lacy knew how 
 it was with Morgan. 
 
 " Then I want you to come out with me, Doctor ; we 
 can talk as we ride to Squire, and I shall beg you to ex- 
 change horses with him, for his has already done a hard 
 day's work." 
 
 " I'll go out with you ; but my horse is not fresh him- 
 self, and I don't know that you'd gain anything by 
 changing." 
 
 Yet, compared with Squire's, the horse had done little 
 on this day, and the exchange was made. 
 
 "Now, Doctor, all you need to say to Mr. West is 
 that Mosby has taken Hawley." 
 
 Junior distrusted Lacy's plan ; he could see that it 
 might work contrary to his hopes. A Union general 
 could hardly be expected to lower his plumes at Mosby's
 
 356 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 dictation ; indeed, would not the demand of the guerilla 
 be rather resented than complied with? Yet there was 
 the chance that Freeman might be brought to reason by 
 Mosby's threat : better not give up this chance, for 
 Junior's own mission might fail. And with this thought 
 there came a swift idea into Morgan's brain : he knew 
 how to make the most of the situation. 
 
 " You believe he will see ? I tell you, Morgan, if he 
 doesn't, I'll speak out. I'll tell him straight that he 
 must find Mosby and get him to threaten." 
 
 " There will be no need, sir ; Mr. West will do that 
 without urging. And you ought to tell him in such a 
 way that he won't see what you intend. There is no use 
 for you to get into trouble about this thing. I don't know 
 but it would be better for me to write to Mr. West." 
 
 " Not at all, not at all. What harm can anybody make 
 out of my telling him that Hawley has been taken ? " 
 
 "None, so that your motive is not told." 
 
 " But does he know that Hawley accepted a parole ? " 
 
 " You can easily find out by his talk ; if he knows it, 
 you will hear from him." 
 
 " Yes, but if he doesn't, then I'll tell him, and tell him 
 short. I suppose I'll find him awake ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes," and Junior sighed, thinking of the sleepless 
 night before one he loved. 
 
 They parted. It was already past midnight when old 
 Squire took the front, making for the Warrenton road. 
 A great and slow detour was necessary in order to avoid 
 the camp ; but once in the road for Haymarket, he struck 
 a trot and kept it.
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 357 
 
 The night was going neither moon nor stars to light 
 the road and twenty-five miles to Warrenton. But 
 would Pleasonton be found at Warrenton ? To Warren- 
 ton the distance was known ; but Pleasonton might be 
 elsewhere. And for fear that the general might be 
 called away early on this day, Morgan decided to do his 
 best riding at the first. 
 
 " How long till day, Squire ? " 
 
 " But a houh V a ha'f o' leetle betteh, Mahsta." 
 
 Squire was unused to Junior ; his indefinite " Mahsta " 
 sounded wrong in his own ears this man was so like 
 his Mahs Dan. 
 
 " Three hours till sunrise ? " 
 
 "Yassah." 
 
 " Six miles an hour, Squire ; yes, better make it seven 
 yes, eight." 
 
 Old Squire struck his heels into his horse's sides and 
 darted on. 
 
 " Halt ! " cried Junior, " that's not the gait ; you'll 
 break down at the start," and for a while he rode at the 
 front to set the pace. 
 
 " How you holdin' out, Mahsta ? " 
 
 " Moderately well ; I can stand it," but the words 
 belied the feeling. 
 
 Squire himself was not in good shape. Just forty- 
 eight hours ago he had risen in order to reach Miss 
 Jinnie in time to help her get breakfast. His day's work 
 had not been hard, but the night that had followed, and 
 the day that had followed the night if he had thought 
 of it he would have felt that a bed of flint would be
 
 358 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 sweet. And there could be no great rest for either until 
 they had covered twenty-five miles and twenty back. 
 
 Dawn came upon them at Catharpin Run ; Squire said 
 they had made ten miles. Morgan's shoulder and back 
 were aching horribly ; but he kept his mouth shut, and 
 followed Squire. 
 
 While the east was red they rode through Haymarket 
 losing time here, for they were halted. But the halt 
 was not long, and the cessation from jolting gave Morgan 
 a little relief. Besides, he learned that Pleasonton was 
 just on the edge of Warrenton. 
 
 At sunrise they were nearing Buckland Mills, and here 
 Morgan's suffering was so great that he thoroughly de- 
 cided that he was unable to go on without resting, and 
 he halted ; but at once there came the belief that if he 
 should rest he would never have the strength to remount, 
 even with help and he rode on, following Squire. 
 
 The negro had turned ; he saw Junior reeling in the 
 saddle, the horse keeping a swift amble. 
 
 "Mahsta," and Squire halted, and thrust his hand 
 into his haversack, "Mahsta, tek some o' dis. Hit'll 
 do you good." 
 
 Morgan seized upon the flask and emptied it. 
 
 " God, Squire I You are a great man ! " Yet the 
 words were feebly said. 
 
 Both horses were showing great weariness ; the sun 
 was climbing up ; but around them were camped artil- 
 lery, and wagons parked. Morgan urged ahead of Squire ; 
 his new-found strength could not last he must make 
 the most of it.
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 359 
 
 . . . General Pleasonton was leaning over a table un- 
 der a great tent-fly, his adjutant, Cohen, opposite. The 
 Union cavalry leader looked annoyed ; last night he had 
 learned of Mosby's escape after defeating Freeman's com- 
 mand, and he was now deliberating over the plan for a 
 formidable movement upon the slippery partisan a move- 
 ment from three directions. Outside, a guard stood at 
 carry arms. The general was speaking to Captain Cohen. 
 
 "Halt! " came from the guard, and at once, again, " Halt! 
 halt ! Have some sense, man, or I'll be compelled to 
 fire ! " and at the words both Pleasonton and his adjutant 
 sprang to their feet, for it was evident from the guard's 
 tones and speech that some rude, perhaps drunken, man 
 was endeavouring to force his way to the general. 
 
 What Pleasonton saw was an old negro, in the act of 
 sliding from his horse. What Cohen saw was more : he 
 saw the negro, and he saw a white man very white 
 his hat falling, his body bent aside and forward, hands 
 clutching, as though by instinct, at the mane of a foam- 
 covered horse, and the next instant seeming to lose all 
 strength and go down. Captain Cohen sprang forward, 
 and with old Squire received the man and let him gently 
 to the earth. 
 
 " Who is it ? " asked the captain. 
 
 General Pleasonton was now at his side, in apprehen- 
 sion of alarming news, for the horses showed unmistakable 
 signs of having come fast and far. 
 
 " Mahs Dan Mawgin, sah," said Squire. 
 
 " Great Scott 1 " cried the captain, " where did you 
 come from ? "
 
 360 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 But General Pleasonton ordered the guard to come, 
 and together they lifted Morgan and brought him into 
 the general's tent. Cohen got water and brandy ; he 
 raised Morgan, propping him with camp-stools and what- 
 ever else he could quickly lay hands on, and succeeded 
 in pouring some liquor down him. Meanwhile the gen- 
 eral had sent for a surgeon. 
 
 " Tell us why you've come, Morgan," said the general. 
 
 Junior tried to speak, but failed. He looked beseech- 
 ingly at Squire, and the old man understood ; so did the 
 others. 
 
 " He wants you to speak," said the general. 
 
 " Yassah ; dey wants to shoot Mahs U sheh, Mahs Cap'm, 
 an' Mahsta dah he don't want Mahs Usheh to git shot, 
 an' so he up an' he ride down heah whah he say he gwine 
 to fine de big ginnle, 'caze he say de big ginnle he good 
 man w'at not a-gwine to stan' by an' see Mahs Usheh git 
 shot. But we done guv out, Mahs Cap'm, an' we can't 
 git to de ginnle, an' I dess a-gwine right now to beg you, 
 Mahs Cap'm, oh, feh de Lawd's sake, sen' wohd to de big 
 ginnle so Mahs Usheh he won't git shot ! " and then the 
 old man, whose voice had broken more and more, col- 
 lapsed in a mighty spasm of sobs. 
 
 "And who is Usher?" asked General Pleasonton, 
 quickly, "and where is all this?" 
 
 " Dat's Mahs Usheh Wes'," cried Squire. " You dunno 
 Mahs Tom Wes' w'at live mos' by ouah house, mos' up 
 to Middlebuhg? He de man w'at be'n tek keeh o' 
 Mahsta dah all dis time. But Mahs Cap'm, please sah, 
 won't shu sen' wohd to de ginnle ? "
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 861 
 
 But the brandy by this time had brought back some 
 strength, and Junior feebly spoke, " I'll try to explain, 
 General." 
 
 " Take your own time, Morgan. Cohen, give him some 
 more of that brandy ... no great disturbance anywhere, 
 Morgan ? " 
 
 " No, General ; it is only a matter of one or two 
 men." 
 
 Pleasonton sat down ; his greater fears were over 
 and he could take the matter of one or two men easily. 
 
 44 The old man is right, General. Captain Freeman 
 threatens to execute a prisoner." 
 
 " And his reason, Morgan ? Why has he not referred 
 the thing to me ? He must be crazy ! " 
 
 " He was taken in citizen's clothing, sir a member of 
 Mosby's command . . . and I will not deceive you, he 
 had the misfortune to kill Lieutenant Brock . . . but 
 it was in broad day and open fight." 
 
 " Why didn't Freeman shoot him at once ? This wait- 
 ing, waiting I He should have shot the bushwhacker in 
 his tracks." 
 
 " It seems, sir, that West was taken by one wing of the 
 company and carried off, and that it was an hour or two 
 later when he was brought to Captain Freeman. Kindly 
 give me a little more brandy, Captain ; and if you will 
 show Squire there how to get some breakfast, I'll thank 
 you very much." 
 
 Junior had made these requests less for the physical 
 wants of himself and the negro than from the wish to see 
 Pleasonton alone.
 
 362 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "General, I'm going to tell you everything. You've 
 been very good to me." 
 
 " Morgan, don't mention it. This is a personal matter 
 with you ? " 
 
 "Deeply and terribly so, General. You have learned 
 that I have a brother in Lee's army; when I was wounded 
 he sent this old negro to Captain Freeman with an invita- 
 tion to come and get me. I was taken by Dr. Lacy in an 
 ambulance but I suppose you know all this, General ; 
 I wrote you about it." 
 
 "Yes, but go on." 
 
 "Lacy found Stuart's cavalry in the way and had to 
 halt. A gentleman named West took us into his house 
 and cared for us ; we have been there now nearly two 
 months. Mr. West's family is himself, a daughter, and a 
 son, and the son is with Mosby, Usher West. Usher 
 agreed at the very first to protect Lacy and me from all 
 trouble by the Confederates. To Mr. West and his daugh- 
 ter I owe my life, General. You see how personal this 
 whole matter is ; I am begging for myself, just as I would 
 beg for my own life at your hands." 
 
 " I see ; the daughter, eh, Morgan ? " and Pleasonton 
 smiled sagely. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; but indeed, outside of that, Mr. West is a 
 noble man, worthy of all respect you may show him in the 
 way of leniency in this matter, sir. He has kept me 
 safe and Dr. Lacy as well, and when I began to speak 
 of recompense I believe that I offended him." 
 
 " Morgan, it is not to my liking to see prisoners exe- 
 cuted, but what can I do ? Will not every bushwhacker
 
 FOR LIFE AND LOVE 363 
 
 at once be encouraged to go on with his deviltry? Of 
 course Freeman must be brought up with a jerk, and he 
 must be taught not to exceed his authority ; but in the 
 end, what can I do ? " 
 
 " General, I think you would have ample justification 
 for holding West a prisoner-of-war. Something else has 
 happened that would not only save appearances, but 
 would give you good room for action." 
 
 "Ah! What?" 
 
 "A man in Freeman's ranks, Private Hawley, was 
 taken about a month ago by a squad of Confederates and 
 was paroled. It was a mere sergeant that did the thing, 
 and Freeman refused to recognize the parole. Now, Haw- 
 ley has been taken by Mosby, and it is possible that Mosby 
 will hear of West's danger and will notify Captain Free- 
 man that the execution of West would be followed by that 
 of Hawley for violation of parole." 
 
 "What!" and the general rose. "Great heavens, 
 Morgan, that would never do ! No, sir! What ! to 
 be menaced that way by Mosby ! How could we ever 
 surrender ? No ; I tell you, sir, that if Mosby makes 
 that threat he'll ruin his own plan, and will ruin all your 
 own hopes ! " 
 
 " Then there are hopes, General ? " 
 
 "Morgan, we must prevent Mosby from making any 
 such threat." 
 
 " Mosby's a quick man, General. He may already have 
 threatened," said Morgan, hypocritically, seeing his scheme 
 work just contrary to Lacy's method, and in exact 
 accordance with his own idea.
 
 364 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " No matter. All that the conditions require is that the 
 execution be forbidden before his threat reaches me." 
 
 " Oh, General, you are going to do it ? " 
 
 " I am going to send one of my couriers with command 
 at once." 
 
 " Oh, General Pleasouton, I could kiss your hands ! 
 But I want to take that order myself. Am I not your 
 courier ? " 
 
 " But you cannot ride, Morgan." 
 *##**** 
 
 And when Junior, at noon, tried to mount, he failed, 
 even with help. But a way was provided, and he carried 
 the order.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 
 
 " Brother, by myn hals, 
 Now I ha YC aspied thou art a party fals." 
 
 GAMELTW . 
 
 LACY gave Mr. West the news that Lieutenant Morgan 
 had gone to intercede with Pleasonton, and had taken 
 Squire with him. Then, without beating the bush, he 
 advised Mr. West of his plan to abet the Confederates in 
 the matter of setting Hawley against Usher. Mr. West 
 at once rode away ; he knew not where Mosby was hold- 
 ing himself, but he had little doubt that he should find 
 members of the band at their homes, and even before 
 Junior reached Pleasonton, Mr. West was in Mosby's 
 presence and had told his purpose. 
 
 Sergeant Morgan had already recognized Hawley, and 
 that prisoner was not happy ; but Mr. West himself 
 was the first to bring tidings of Usher's condition and of 
 Freeman's threats. The matter developed into Morgan's 
 going alone to bear a message from Mosby to the effect 
 that Hawley, for violation of parole, would summarily be 
 shot in case Freeman's threat should be carried out. 
 
 For all answer, Morgan, after having been held by 
 the sentinel for a full hour, was informed that Captain 
 
 365
 
 8M OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Freeman had no communication to make to bushwhack- 
 ers. 
 
 Mr. West had waited until Morgan's return. 
 
 ** How is my brother now ? " the sergeant asked, spite 
 of the farmer's cruel suspense, indeed with a desire to 
 deflect his thought. 
 
 44 Gone to General Pleasonton to intercede for Usher. 
 Oh, Dan, that's a noble fellow ; do you know what he 
 told me ? He says that his grandfather's will was in 
 favour of Daniel Morgan, and that you shall have every 
 cent of the property." 
 
 "Tell him I'll share mine with him! I'm rich enough 
 for both if he ever wants anything. I won't touch it ! " 
 
 44 Just what I told him," said West. 
 
 44 Gone to Pleasonton ! He'll succeed, I do pray and 
 hope. But can he stand it ? " 
 
 44 He took Squire. I hope he can make it, but " and 
 Mr. West cut his speech short through fear of losing 
 self-control. 
 
 Dr. Lacy had returned to Freeman's camp, but was 
 holding himself aloof from the captain. The day was 
 wearing on, the little camp more and more gloomy ; every 
 sound man was on duty, guarding the roads, the entire 
 company always under arms. Freeman's excited condition 
 caused much talk ; and as it became current that Hawley 
 was a prisoner under threat of retaliating upon him the 
 penalty which Freeman seemed resolved to inflict upon 
 West, murmurs of deep displeasure began to run ; while 
 it was true that Freeman's orders must be obeyed, yet it 
 was clear that in this matter he was transcending his own
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 867 
 
 powers, and more than one man swore loudly not to serve 
 if ordered on the detail for execution. The sergeants 
 endeavoured to quiet such talk, but their efforts were vain, 
 and at length one of them informed the captain that it 
 would be dangerous to proceed ; but the warning had no 
 seeming effect, and in the afternoon the orderly-sergeant 
 notified each man of the detail for execution. 
 
 But now, Mosby, who, had he known of the condition, 
 tantamount to mutiny, of Freeman's camp, might have 
 refrained from the act, sent Morgan with a second message, 
 which seemed to increase the violence of Captain Freeman's 
 rage ; for Mosby served notice that, if West suffered, 
 then every man of Freeman's company who should there- 
 after be captured by the partisan would be shot down 
 without delay. To this message, Sergeant Morgan, after 
 waiting long, returned without answer. 
 
 Freeman, however, had been staggered by Mosby's 
 threats, and it was nothing but pride that still held him 
 to his resolution he wished himself well out of the 
 trouble. But his men, hearing of the last threat, turned 
 about, also through pride, and declared that they would 
 not bend an inch for Mosby and his high talk they 
 would meet death with death. 
 
 Lacy's uneasiness had never been shown so great, and 
 toward the middle of the afternoon he rode out of the 
 camp, taking the way to Haymarket, up which he ex- 
 pected Lieutenant Morgan to come, his nervousness such 
 that he felt the need of ending it at the earliest possible 
 moment. 
 
 He had ridden at a slow walk more than a mile when,
 
 868 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 from a height, he saw far at the south a moving spot in 
 the road ; he halted, for he knew at once that here was 
 something greater than a horseman, or even than two. 
 The object was moving northward and rapidly, but soon 
 a turn of the road hid the thing from view, and when it 
 next appeared the doctor saw some half a dozen cavalry- 
 men coming at a gallop, and close behind them an ambu- 
 lance drawn by four horses. 
 
 Lacy had already sent his wounded to Fairfax, and he 
 wondered why this ambulance from the direction of 
 Warrenton was coming to his help ; but almost at once 
 he conceived the truth General Pleasonton had sent his 
 exhausted aide back in this degree of comfort, and it 
 meant that Morgan had succeeded ; he put spurs to his 
 horse. 
 
 The doctor found Morgan propped with mattresses, and 
 incapable of continuous speech. Old Squire was curled 
 up asleep. The tired horses they had ridden had been 
 left behind to be sent on later. In a minute Lacy had 
 the situation. The squad were to go on without Morgan 
 in case the lieutenant should be forced to halt. 
 
 Feeling it better that Freeman should not yet learn of 
 Morgan's appeal to Pleasonton, Lacy now commanded the 
 deflection of the ambulance to Mr. West's, and with half 
 of the squad rode back to camp, where he remained until 
 he knew that the general's instructions had been delivered, 
 and that the orderly-sergeant had notified the detailed 
 men that they were discharged ; then he galloped hard 
 and overtook his patient. 
 
 Junior's hopeful condition had been greatly impaired ;
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 369 
 
 he had brought joy in regard to Usher, but extreme 
 anxiety concerning himself, and not only Jennie was 
 oppressed by fears for his life, but even her father failed 
 to conceal his emotion as he assisted in bearing the 
 Federal to his bed. 
 
 In the meanwhile Major Mosby had made his arrange- 
 ments for sending his prisoners and most valuable cap- 
 tures to the army under General Lee, and had distributed 
 to his men whatever would be too cumbrous for such a 
 journey, which must be made with exceeding caution and 
 rapidity. By means of his scouts, he learned that the 
 threatened execution of West had not been carried into 
 effect, and a messenger sent to Mr. West's returned after 
 nightfall with complete information. Then Mosby put 
 his train in motion; all the night he moved southwest 
 through Loudoun Valley, and when the sun rose he was 
 at Orleans, and almost in safety. Here he disbanded his 
 men except but a few, with whom he brought his prizes to 
 Stuart's cavalry. This journey took Sergeant Morgan 
 and his friends back into the First Virginia yet not all 
 of his friends. West was now in a Federal prison, and 
 Squire had been left with Junior Morgan ; for even Arm- 
 strong had a bitter pride in insisting that Jennie's only 
 help should not be taken away. 
 
 *#**** 
 
 Again for long weeks Andrew Morgan lay at West's, 
 his mind always in the fever of hope, his hurts almost be- 
 yond it for a time. Upon the matter of his relations with 
 both, Jennie refrained from speech with her father, wisely 
 discerning that Mr. West's opposition had been so shaken 
 fl
 
 370 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 that with little more it would be entirely overcome. She 
 would leave all to time ; needless to revive obstinacy by 
 pressing upon wounded pride, for it was clear that the old 
 man felt humbled in the presence of a devotion to love 
 and merciful duty that he had considered the right, by 
 preemption, of the Southerner ; yet was there the comfort 
 that Junior was a Virginian born. 
 
 Naturally, old Squire was a great hero, and enjoyed his 
 high honours ; yet he was at all times weighed down by a 
 sense of neglected duty in regard to Armstrong, and 
 every day he would tell Mahs Dan, as he now persisted in 
 calling Andrew, that the time must soon come for his 
 departure. Between Squire and Morgan a great attach- 
 ment seemed to grow the soldier silent, listening 
 eagerly to all that the negro would tell of the sergeant, 
 and of all his friends. Morgan willingly learned to love 
 his brother even before he knew him. 
 
 As to the household, there was no longer any fear con- 
 cerning Federal or Confederate, Pleasonton's protection 
 having been accorded to Mr. West, and Mosby keeping 
 aloof with greatest good-will. At one time Dr. Lacy had 
 ridden through a squad of armed men clad in civilian's 
 garb who all raised their hats and gave him the road ; for 
 now the doctor had more patients than one, his services 
 being demanded for serious cases at the camp, and even 
 by some of Mr. West's neighbours. The place had be- 
 come a haven, protected by breakwaters against which 
 alone the tides might dash. 
 
 Early in October Junior began again to grow better, 
 and Lacy had fixed the day of their departure an appoint-
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 871 
 
 ment that brought greater joy to Squire perhaps than 
 to any other of the family. On the afternoon of the 12th 
 they were all sitting on the wide porch, the negro's slight 
 form on the lowest step, his gray head bowed. 
 
 Abruptly Squire moved, and then rose. 
 
 " Didn' shu heahed 'em, Mahs Tom ? " 
 
 44 Hear what, Squire ? " asked Mr. West. 
 
 "Heah de big guns. Dah, heah dat ag'in . . . Dah 
 now I " 
 
 But to the ear of none other had the sounds come. 
 
 "Mahs Tom, I 'spec' I hatto go." 
 
 44 1 guess it's nothing but some long range firing that he 
 hears," said Junior. 
 
 " No, Mahs Dan, dem guns is a-comin'. I be'n knowed 
 dat dey's a-gwine to come, an' now dey's a-comin'. You 
 know Ginnle Lee, Mahs Dan, an' you know Ginnle 
 Stuaht, an' Mahs Fitz, an' all dem yotheh cunnels ? Dey's 
 a-gwine to come back dis a- way feh sho'. Dey not 
 a-gwine to res' easy in dey beds tell dey gits back heah 
 whah dey b'longs to. De good book hit say dat w'at goes 
 up is a-gwine to come down ag'in, an' dat's dess de way 
 dey be'n a-doin' eveh sence dat night w'at de fust Mahs 
 Dan an' Mahs Joe Lewis dey fust come to ouah house 
 dey dess be'n a-comin' an' a-gwyin' all de time you heah 
 dat now, don't shu ? " and this time Junior heard. 
 
 * 4 Mahs Tom, I 'spec' you all is got to 'scuse me. I dess 
 got to go to my young mahsta." 
 
 44 Better wait a day or two, Uncle Squire," said Morgan, 
 who had adopted Jennie's mode of address. "If the armies 
 are moving this way, every day's march will help you
 
 372 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 you might get lost or run into some people you don't 
 want to see, you know. Suppose you should stumble on 
 the man who owned your horse ? " 
 
 " Yassah, dat's de Gawd's troof ; an' I done had trouble 
 enough a-hidin' 'im. But I ain't a-frettin' much 'bout any 
 of 'em, 'scusin' dat same Cap'm Freeman, an' I ain't got 
 no call to mix up wid him no mo'e." 
 
 " If he should ever get you, Squire, he will hardly let 
 you go to the general again," said the doctor, who knew 
 that Freeman had learned of Squire's ride with Junior. 
 
 " No, Mahs Doctoh, but fust I ain't a-gwine to let 'im 
 git me no rno'e. I don't git along wi' dem big Yankee 
 ginnles. I dess can't put up wid 'em, nohow. But 
 Ginnle Stuaht an' Mahs Fitz, dem's de kin' o' ginnles feh 
 po' niggeh lak me." 
 
 " Squire, you are full of mistakes," said Lacy ; " your 
 signs are all wrong. You had a sign once before and it 
 came to nothing, and now this notion of yours that Lee is 
 advancing is worth no more than your old sign." 
 
 " Yassah, but Mahs Doctoh, me an' somebody's a-gwine 
 to be mighty bad awff some o' dese days ef dat ole un is 
 es good es dis un. Ain't shu gwine oveh to de camp 
 to-day, sah ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Den I ax you, sah, dat ef you sees Bahney you 
 knows Bahney, sah ? " 
 
 " Captain Freeman's man ? " 
 
 " Yassah, ef you sees Bahney, I be mighty 'bleeged to 
 you, sah, ef you tell 'im dat ole Squiah's a-gwine to light 
 out f'om dese diggin's, an' ef he got any wohd to sen' to
 
 374 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 he ole mammy he kin git it ready ; an' ef he sen' it to me 
 up at de fawks o' de road mos' to Hopewell, I tek it." 
 
 " Certainly, Squire, I'll tell him for you with pleasure." 
 
 There were no more sounds of artillery, but Lacy rode 
 to camp, and when he returned at night it was with an 
 ambulance. He told that the camp would be broken up ; 
 the troops would move to the front, for it was known that 
 Lee's army was in motion northward. 
 
 On the next morning Lacy took his patient away in the 
 midst of a scene of silence and grief that must be for- 
 borne. 
 
 Squire rode southward alone. He had provender for 
 his horse, food for himself, and money given him by Ju- 
 nior. Lacy had wanted to give Squire a written statement 
 that he had rendered good service to a Union officer, but 
 consideration of the matter with Morgan had made him 
 abandon his design for fear that Confederates might 
 examine the bearer; so, for the contrary reason, lest 
 Squire should fall into Federal hands, the lieutenant had 
 decided to write no letter to his brother, and simply 
 charged the old man with verbal messages of kindness. 
 
 In these parts every footpath was familiar to the negro, 
 every farmer's face and name. North of the Manassas 
 railroad he had no fear of molestation. As for Federals, 
 he had confidence that they were having enough to do to 
 resist Stuart, whose cannon could now be heard with greater 
 distinctness. 
 
 " Wondeh ef dat boy's a-gwine to do w'at he promus'd," 
 was the old man's thought. " He done went back awn me 
 oveh in Mellan' and Penns'vania, an' I ain't had no 'scuse
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 375 
 
 feh mixin' up wid him no mo'e. De good book hit say 
 dat ef a man tell you one lie he tell you a thousan', an' I 
 b'lieve hit's right. I gwine to wait fuh him, but I not 
 a-gwine to wait tell I git cotch, now I let shu know 
 dat." 
 
 As he rode southward, skirting the western edges of 
 Bull Run Mountains, the intermittent sound of cannon 
 grew and grew, and from the varied sounds he knew the 
 discharges came from no one spot : some were much nearer 
 than others ; they seemed to be pounding along a great 
 line stretching east and west. 
 
 At noon he was near Hopewell. He must halt at the 
 junction of the two roads where he had given Barney 
 rendezvous. He would turn into the woods that he might 
 be secreted from view, and watch toward the north for 
 Barney's coming. At his left was a natural hiding-place, 
 a tumble-down fence with great bushes and briers. He 
 rode to an opening and then turned toward the chosen 
 spot, but as he turned he saw before him a horse, saddled 
 and haltered, head to earth, eating ; and at the next breath 
 he saw the dismounted rider spring up Barney. 
 
 " Yes, Unc Squiah, I done got ahead of you feh oncet ; 
 I jest be'n a-watchin' of you, an' I seed ju was a-thinkin' 
 dat dat good-feh-nothin' Bahney gwine to make you wait. 
 Yah ! yah ! Now, Unc Squiah, tell de troof ! " 
 
 " Bahney, boy, you 'peahs to be mighty high sperrited 
 'bout some'h'm you does, feh true. Whah you git dat 
 hoss, Bahney ? " 
 
 " I got 'im jest whah you got yo'n, Unc Squiah ; dah 
 now ! " and Bahney laughed again.
 
 d76 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Squire had also dismounted and was getting ready to 
 feed. 
 
 " Dat hawsh you got, Bahney, hit seem to me dat I 
 done seed dat hoss befo'e now." 
 
 "Mebbe you did, Unc Squiah." 
 
 " Boy, how come you git dis hoss ? " 
 
 " Don't shu fret shose'f about dat, Unc Squiah ; I got 
 'im. An' it gwine to take a good man's two hund'ed 
 dollahs in gole to git 'im, too, Unc Squiah." 
 
 " An' izh you gwine to sell 'im to de Conf eddicks ? " 
 
 "Dat's jest what I 'lows to do. But I make you a 
 good swap, Unc Squiah, if you wants him." 
 
 Squire coveted the horse, which was a much better one 
 than his own coveted him for Mahs Chahley ; but he 
 shook his head ; he had no money to spare. 
 
 They made a start. Squire insisted on keeping out of 
 the main roads ; for though when alone he had had no 
 fear in this quarter, now, with a companion dressed in 
 blue, he was afraid lest suspicion be aroused ; moreover, 
 one negro is an innocent slave on some mission for his 
 master, but two constitute an insurrection. 
 
 In the woods the progress was slower. Neither had a 
 definite intention beyond those of avoiding the Federal 
 cavalry, and getting into the Confederate lines. They 
 heard guns, but knew not whether their own approach was 
 toward the backs of Union troops or those of Southerners. 
 
 From time to time Barney bantered Squire for a horse 
 trade, but the older man invariably answered that he 
 would swap even, or not at all, while the younger wanted 
 fifty dollars in gold.
 
 ONE WAY TO SWAP HORSES 377 
 
 Dusk was falling and they were still on the western 
 edge of the mountains, but they had passed the railroad, 
 and were to the south of Thoroughfare. The night would 
 be dark ; the autumn wind swept low clouds along the 
 range, obscuring all distant vision before the end of day. 
 A place was chosen, and a halt made for the night ; on 
 the morrow they would go up the mountain and see what 
 could be seen. 
 
 Barney seemed restless; he persisted in offering to 
 trade horses, slowly reducing his demands. The old 
 negro began to dread some deceit ; from the first he had 
 not doubted that Barney had committed theft, and now 
 he believed that the desire for exchanging was based upon 
 fear lest they ride into a Federal camp where the horse 
 would be recognized. As for his own mount, Squire 
 proudly considered him the lawful prize of his bow and 
 spear. 
 
 The young negro became sullen. "Unc Squiah, it 
 seems to me dat shu stannin' might'ly in yo' own light. 
 You don't know when you lucky. Dat hoss he wuff 
 mo'e'n two o' yo'n, and dey ain't a man on de top side o' 
 de yeahth dat I let have 'im like I do you." 
 
 " Yas, chile, dat's all true, an' I ain't a-sputin' it ; but 
 shu see dish heah hoss o' mine? I done got shuse to 'im, 
 Bahney, an' I dess can't mek up my mine to tuhn 'im awff. 
 I ain't a-sayin' dat shyo' hoss ain't wuff de mos', now mine 
 you, but I dess say I don't go back on dis hoss." 
 
 " Den 'sposin' I say swap eben, Unc Squiah, what'd ju 
 say to dat ? Now, I ain't a-sayin' I gwine to do it, but 
 what'd ju say ? "
 
 378 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Lawd, chile, ain't no use to talk 'bout w'at shu ain't 
 a-gwine to do. You ain't a-gwine to do it, 'cazhe you 
 know you ain't." 
 
 On the hard earth, covered by his saddle cloth, old 
 Squire rested for more than half the night in dreamless 
 sleep. Then he woke with a start and listened. Near by 
 he heard sounds of hoofs, growing suddenly louder, and in 
 a moment more receding, galloping away. 
 
 " Bahney," he called softly ; but the wind in the trees 
 was the only answer. He called louder. Then he moved, 
 and felt where Barney had lain. He rose up and looked 
 all about, groping his way in the darkness.
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME 
 
 " Mar. How far off lie these armies ? 
 .*/>.. Within this mile and half. 
 
 Mar. Then shall we hear their 'larum and they ours." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 WHEN it became fully evident that Barney had secretly 
 achieved his wished -for horse trade, and had gone without 
 so much as by your leave, Squire's fears permitted him no 
 longer to rest ; anything might be apprehended from the 
 man who had betrayed him, so he gathered his effects and 
 led Barney's horse away. 
 
 The clouds were gone ; from the stars he learned that day 
 was not far, and he made toward the ridge of the moun- 
 tain, carefully choosing his way. But present fear was 
 lessened by every step, and before he had made a furlong he 
 halted and sat down, bridle in hand, to await the dawn, his 
 thoughts bitter from loneliness and from dread of a future 
 caused by Barney's desertion ; for the younger negro's con- 
 duct was now understood he had forcibly disposed of a 
 booty too dangerous to keep in these parts, where at any 
 moment he might run against Freeman's company; and the 
 act that had helped himself had been done to the peril of 
 him he deserted. 
 
 379
 
 380 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 When daylight came, Squire trudged up the mountain 
 side, and as the sun rose looked out east and south and 
 southwest. The region was in a great degree familiar. 
 In his young manhood he had roamed these woods and 
 fields by night, for slaves wandered far at times betwixt 
 sun and sun ; and in the campaigns of Lee and Pope, and 
 of Stuart and Pleasonton, he had learned a little of the 
 more distant country in regard to the main roads and the 
 villages. The smoke at the southwest where Stuart was 
 now crossing the Hedgeman he knew was in Rappahan- 
 nock County ; and the smoke nearer by, but a little to the 
 left, he thought came from Warrenton, where were many 
 camps. And far eastward the atmosphere was a mingling 
 of dust and smoke, which the negro understood to mean 
 the presence and the movement of a mighty army which 
 army ? Lee's or Meade's ? It was far away. 
 
 Near the mountain the air was pure ; for ten miles there 
 was neither dust nor smoke, except thin spots that indicated 
 dwellings ; here and there in this quarter the roads were 
 visible ^but for very short spaces, the region hilly and 
 wooded. Had it not been for hills and woods a watcher 
 with a glass of indefinite power might have seen from this 
 height a panorama which the governments of earth would 
 have trembled to watch, for on this field the Southern 
 army was moving once more in a hope to interpose 
 between its giant antagonist and his Capital. 
 
 Squire knew not what to do, and he sat down. He was 
 in a good place ; before he would move he must know 
 more. His fears of Freeman were so great that at one 
 time he had almost decided to abandon the horse which he
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME 381 
 
 believed Barney had considered an element of danger ; but 
 the thought had followed that by night he might ride even 
 this horse into safety if he could but know whither to 
 ride ; he would wait here, if need be, until night. So on 
 this mountain top the slave remained, at each successive 
 moment striving from some new indication thrown vaguely 
 to this far distance by the assembled powers of North and 
 of South to solve its meaning to himself. Down there was 
 Stuart, and he was coming. Squire saw the smoke of his 
 cannon, but the sounds and the smoke mingled with those 
 of the Northern artillery, and he could not divide them. 
 Over at the southeast stood the infantry legions of Sedg- 
 wick, and Warren, and French, and Newton, and Slocum 
 all unseen by the lone spy upon the mountain, while to 
 their north rolled the visible smoke of their camps and the 
 dust of their wagon trains hurrying back to Bull Run ; 
 but the dust and the smoke drifted without regard to sec- 
 tional prejudice, and their political cause was unrevealed. 
 In the southwest the noise of cannon died away, and 
 Squire still held his post. Yet he thought it prudent to 
 examine the ground near him ; he tied his horse, and 
 sought a spot from which he might look more to the west, 
 and now he saw, not half a mile away, a white flag waving 
 from an isolated perch, waving nervously, according to 
 the fitful manner of the signal folk, springing up jerk- 
 ing down right left left, left right, right, left, 
 up zigzag, rapidly and incoherently, lacking utterly 
 the rhythmical succession of the drum-major's conceited 
 baton, jerking and fluttering in spasms of apprehension 
 and warning. And Squire knew that they were signals
 
 382 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 of warning, but of whom and to whom the warning was 
 projected who could know? Yet, for all his ignorance, 
 was he sure that the flags were waving Federal signals to 
 Federals to tell that Lee was marching. He went back to 
 his former position, and continued to strain his eyes at the 
 landscape under the blazing sun ; and as he gazed he still 
 saw the dust rolling northward and now knew that its 
 extreme southern limit had moved. He took an object, 
 and after a little another, and then yet a third, and then 
 he prayed to his God for Mahs Chahley and the Southern 
 cause, for it was plain as day that Meade was hurrying his 
 long trains in retreat ; and he knew that between the 
 mountain and those trains, and in rear of the trains, 
 Meade's divisions were seeking some strong position for 
 battle. 
 
 Then, in another hour, the atmosphere toward Warren- 
 ton became pure of smoke and dust ; and in yet another 
 hour the dust was rising there again ; and the negro 
 interpreted the Federals had marched out, .and after an 
 interval the Southerners had marched in ; and who but 
 Stuart ? Yet the negro held his place ; he would wait 
 until the rear of the advancing cavalry had passed ; then, 
 without fear of the Federals, he could follow and find his 
 master ; he would wait, if need be, until night. 
 
 ******* 
 
 On this day Stuart marched through Warrenton. The 
 movement had begun on the 9th ; at James City on the 
 10th there had been a combat of cavalry ; at Culpeper 
 and Brandy on the llth more desperate fighting in which 
 Armstrong had ridden ever in advance, seeming to seek
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME 383 
 
 destruction, yet coming out unscathed. On yesterday, at 
 Jeffersonton, there had been a close but partial engage- 
 ment, the Federals retiring to the north bank of the 
 Hedgeman. And behind Stuart, Lee at the west was 
 endeavouring to repeat the movement that in the preced- 
 ing year had thrown Pope back to Bull Run. 
 
 Fitz Lee held the ground from New Baltimore to War- 
 renton, and from Warrenton toward Auburn. Stuart 
 marched with three brigades eastward for Catlett's ; he 
 left Lomax's brigade at Auburn, and when in sight of Cat- 
 lett's was forced to halt, for the roads running northward 
 in his front were full of Federal infantry hastening their 
 retreat the two corps commanded by Generals Sedgwick 
 and Sykes. Though Stuart had been observed by the 
 enemy, whose flanking parties sent a few shots into his 
 ranks, he succeeded in withdrawing, and at once de- 
 spatched an aide to General Lee at Warrenton, advising 
 that Meade's army was in full retreat, and that now was 
 the time to strike. At Auburn this messenger found that 
 Lomax's brigade had been forced to abandon that position 
 and retire westward ; for on this night the corps of Fed- 
 eral infantry under Warren had halted at Auburn, not 
 only brushing Lomax aside, but cutting off Stuart's retreat 
 in the direction of Warrenton. Moreover, the Third 
 corps, under French, had already passed beyond Auburn, 
 and was encamping at Greenwich, so that Stuart found 
 himself enclosed : on the east were Sedgwick and Sykes ; 
 on the north, French ; on the west and southwest, War- 
 ren's infantry and Gregg's cavalry ; while on the south 
 flowed Cedar Run. But for his ordnance wagons and
 
 384 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 artillery, Stuart's predicament would not perhaps have 
 been felt as serious ; but these he could not think of 
 abandoning. Throughout the night extraordinary effort 
 was made to prevent knowledge of his presence from 
 reaching his enemies, and six several attempts by single 
 soldiers to flank the Union lines and tell to Lee the 
 danger of his lieutenant all succeeded. 
 
 Stuart's aide had sent back a messenger advising that 
 the road was blocked, and then by a circuitous route had 
 reached General Lee, so that now the situation had become 
 perilous to Warren ; it was a complex case in which 
 accurate knowledge of the positions and designs of the 
 various disjoined forces on either side might throw success 
 to the commander who should acquire that knowledge 
 or conceive it with sufficient clearness to justify action. 
 Stuart was enclosed, and Warren was enclosed ; whoever 
 should strike first and properly, surely ought to gain a 
 great success ; yet the result proved a balance, and added 
 to the fame of both commanders, but perhaps unjustifiably, 
 though surely no criticism can apply against Warren, while 
 adverse comment upon Stuart's course would seem to fall 
 ulteriorly upon Lee for certainly that great captain 
 failed at Auburn to crush the Second corps. 
 
 At daylight Ewell's infantry advanced upon Warren 
 from the west, and Stuart's artillery opened upon him 
 from the east, surprising his men in their bivouacs, 
 creating consternation at finding that the road was blocked 
 to Catlett's. 
 
 And Warren succeeded in extricating his command 
 before Ewell could seriously engage it ; and Stuart sue-
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME 385 
 
 ceeded in slipping out with his brigades and his artillery 
 before Warren could overwhelm them ; and in the manoeu- 
 vres incident to these successes, there was close fighting, 
 horsemen riding through hostile infantry, solid regiments 
 charging upon cannon, battery replying to battery. 
 ***** * * 
 
 Squire reached the First Virginia without difficulty, and 
 he soon found friends, one of whom told him that Morgan 
 and his group had been detailed to attend General Stuart, 
 who had marched eastward. No other information could 
 he get. His long rest on the mountains had left his good 
 horse fresh ; he knew not when his master would return 
 to the regiment ; he felt that he must go on and try to 
 reach General Stuart. 
 
 ****#** 
 
 At daylight on the 14th Squire was approaching General 
 Stuart's line. As yet the negro had not seen a Federal, 
 his acute senses of hearing and sight, coupled with foxlike 
 caution, enabling him to avoid their flanks in the darkness. 
 Indeed, but for his artillery, which a wood or a gully 
 might easily have caused to fall into the enemy's hands, 
 it would have been no difficult matter for General Stuart 
 and his two brigades to file away into safety by marching 
 between the corps of Warren at Auburn and that of 
 French at Greenwich, and it was through this gap that 
 Squire made his way at an hour later than the march of 
 any of French's stragglers. 
 
 The old man was on a high hill from which a good vision 
 could be had when the full light of day should come. In 
 his rear was a wood, covering the crown of the hill ; in his 
 2c
 
 386 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 front, open ground, but lower, in which depression the Con- 
 federate cavalry lay concealed in a heavy fog. Through 
 that fog he saw nothing, yet he heard he heard the 
 rattle of harness, and the movement of horses ; but soon 
 at the south though he knew not the south he saw 
 many fires spring up, and he believed they were made by 
 Federals for boiling their coffee a luxury that the poor 
 rebels tasted only when they had captured it from their 
 enemies. 
 
 At length the fog began to lift, and then Squire heard 
 musketry break out, away at his right ; it seemed a mile, 
 and far beyond the fires. And before it had died away 
 there came other sounds, more fearful and louder a 
 battery below him was firing with great rapidity. Still 
 he could see no man ; yet under that fogsheet he knew that 
 the combatants could see, could tell what he knew not, 
 could distinguish friend from foe. Again there was thunder 
 different a second unknown battery replying, and 
 farther south a crackling of small arms, and then even 
 the mighty tread of horse reached his ears as Stuart threw 
 a regiment forward at the charge. But even yet the ne- 
 gro could only hear. Like a blind man lingering on the 
 edge of battle whose sounds alone come to his smitten 
 brain, the slave stood and hearkened, afraid to go forward 
 because death was there ; yet could he not go back, 
 because of duty. 
 
 But the fog continued to rise, and with great suddenness 
 he knew where he was. Over yonder, scarce half a mile, 
 was the spot where his Mahs Chahley had found him one 
 night that night in '62 when the negro had guided Stuart
 
 IN THE NICK OF TIME 387 
 
 to Pope's headquarters ; and in a flash the whole immediate 
 district sprang into coherence by simple association, and 
 for one instant the positions of the hostile forces upon 
 that night in '62 had well-nigh betrayed him, for here 
 from the west came Stuart then ; there at the east were 
 the Federals then ; and he mounted his horse to ride to 
 the rear of the western battle ; but as he mounted the 
 scene became clear, and he saw cavalry at the east, with 
 the Confederate flag ; and infantry at the west, with the 
 Federal flag ; and he dashed his old heels into his horse's 
 sides and rode headlong after Stuart's men, now rapidly 
 retiring southward. 
 
 But the rearmost files of the Confederates turned, for 
 here came thundering athwart the open a company of 
 Federal horsemen to retard the retreat. Still Squire was 
 riding ; he saw the Confederates, but not their enemies 
 behind the swell ; he saw only the gray men halting, 
 facing west, their flank toward him, he urging on at all 
 speed in the joyful hope that they were awaiting him. 
 But all at once the blue men came into view, and not a 
 hundred yards from their foes ; and as Squire finds refuge 
 in the rear of the Confederates who advance now to meet 
 shock with shock, they roll together with one commingled 
 shout which tells of stern resolve and highest ardour each 
 for each ; then blades and blades, and shot and shot, and 
 rider down, and horse overthrown, and all the wild up- 
 roar. And then upon the Federals thus struggling comes 
 back a second gray platoon, and in a time that must be 
 told in seconds the blue survivors are fleeing over the 
 field, leaving their dead and wounded. But so their ene-
 
 388 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 mies must also flee, for in their rear the bugles call them 
 to save themselves while they may. 
 
 Foremost of the Southerners, Armstrong had ridden ; 
 foremost of the Federals, Freeman. And Armstrong's 
 horse had been slain, and his comrades were rapidly 
 withdrawing, and Freeman had been stricken to the 
 ground, where he lay in helpless peril ; and Freeman saw 
 his own horse his favourite dash up to the spot, a 
 negro on his back, and he knew this negro. He saw a 
 white man leap up to the saddle, as old Squire scrambled 
 back to the croup ; and then Freeman, lying there inca- 
 pable, saw his horse, carrying its double burden, gallop 
 after the fleeing rebels.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 
 
 " Where lies the land to which the ship would go ? 
 Far, far ahead, is all the seamen know." 
 
 CLOUGH. 
 
 THE manoeuvres of the cavalry in the Bristoe campaign, 
 though interesting, were marked by no incident seriously 
 affecting Squire's history after he returned to his master. 
 Lee's army settled back beyond the Rapidan, and Meade 
 resumed his former position in Culpeper County. At 
 the close of November the Federal army advanced into 
 Orange County, and was halted by Lee's intrenched 
 position along Mine Run ; there was much skirmishing, 
 but no general battle. By the 2d of December Meade 
 was back in his camps, and everything seemed settled for 
 the winter, Lee's infantry in huts near Orange Court- 
 House, his cavalry scattered over three counties, scarcity 
 of provender demanding small camps widely separated. 
 Old Squire foraged near and far. 
 
 In February Lieutenant Morgan returned to his duty 
 with Pleasonton. He had interested some influential 
 people in the story of West and Hawley, and he now had 
 great hope of seeing the one exchanged for the other, 
 General Pleasonton himself having recommended it ; as 
 
 389
 
 390 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 for the Confederates, they were always willing to exchange. 
 Yet though Junior held desultory correspondence with 
 Jennie, he had not written her concerning his efforts for 
 Usher's release, fearing to excite undue hope. 
 
 More than four months had gone by since any of our 
 friends on either side had learned aught of the doings of 
 those upon the opposite side ; neither Sergeant Morgan 
 nor Armstrong, in any skirmish, and not even Squire 
 with all his foraging, had met with one small incident 
 relating to Junior, to Lacy, to Freeman, or any of Free- 
 man's company. Yet but few miles divided these parties, 
 and the existing oblivion must cease. 
 
 The day on which Lieutenant Morgan returned to duty 
 marked also the return of an old friend. Dahlgren, pro- 
 moted for gallantry three grades at a stride, had been 
 disabled by wounds since July, and indeed was still dis- 
 abled, wearing a false leg, and even carrying crutches at 
 his saddle, his chivalrous courage supplying all physical 
 lack. 
 
 In whose brain 1 was evolved the wonderful but imper- 
 fect scheme which Colonel Dahlgren was first to unfold 
 to Morgan, Junior did not know, but he at once eagerly 
 sought to become an actor in it, responding to Dahlgren's 
 enthusiasm with ardour. 
 
 On the morning of February 28, 1864, Morgan was 
 alone in Dahlgren's tent, busy with preparation, the colo- 
 nel having been called outside by some messenger sent 
 from the provost-marshal. Morgan was hoping that a 
 
 1 General Kilpatrick's, according to War Records, Vol. XXXIII, pp. 
 172, 173.
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 391 
 
 guide had been sent to lead Dahlgren's five hundred who 
 were to take the advance. 
 
 " Do you know the country below ? " The voice was 
 Dahlgren's, easily heard by Morgan. 
 
 " No, Colonel ; I was to bring you this negro, and re- 
 turn to Mr. Babcock. That is all I know." 
 
 " The negro is sent to me ? " . . . Dahlgren again. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 "Dismount, sir, and come in here." 
 
 Soon Dahlgren came in, followed by a negro, a young 
 man, brown skinned, slender, seemingly at ease with army 
 people. The negro looked fixedly at Morgan for an 
 instant then turned his eyes away. 
 
 Dahlgren handed a sheet of paper to Morgan, who read 
 as follows : 
 
 "DEAR COLONEL: At the last moment I have found the 
 man you want, well acquainted with the James River from 
 Richmond up. I send him to you mounted on my own private 
 horse. You will have to furnish him a horse. Question him 
 for five minutes, and you will find him the very man you 
 want. 
 
 " Respectfully and truly yours, 
 
 " JOHN C. BABCOCK. 
 
 " He crossed at Rapidan last night, and has late informa- 
 tion." 1 
 
 Meanwhile, Dahlgren was questioning the negro. 
 " Where do you come from ? " 
 
 " I be'n down to Goochlan', sah, an' I jest got back," was 
 the reply, the man's eyes shifting uneasily in his head, 
 i War Records, Vol. XXXIII, p. 221.
 
 392 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " You have been with us before ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sah, I be'n with the cavalry, an' I jest went 
 back to see my mammy." 
 
 " What is your name ? " 
 
 ..." Bahney, sah." The negro was thinking ; he had 
 seen Dahlgren before, and Morgan also ; he had no wish 
 to be recognized ; he knew, however, that Freeman had 
 been wounded and was now absent from his command, 
 and he tried to take courage. Possibly he had thought 
 of concealing his name, but had thought too late, for he 
 had given it even before seeing Babcock at the provost- 
 marshal's. 
 
 " Who can vouch for you ? " 
 
 " De gentleman dat I waited awn is done got huht, 
 sah, an' he ain't got back, an' I don't know who to say, 
 sah." 
 
 " Who is he ? " 
 
 "Cap'm Bob Freeman, sah." 
 
 " And no one else knows you ? " 
 
 The negro would not say that he had ever seen 
 Morgan ; he drew a crumpled note from his pocket, and 
 handed it to Dahlgren, who read that the bearer had suc- 
 cessfully guided the writer, after escaping from Libby 
 Prison, through the enemy's country and safely into the 
 Union lines. 1 
 
 The testimony seemed very favourable. Dahlgren 
 dismissed the soldier, who rode away, leading Babcock's 
 horse. 
 
 1 Boudrye's " Fifth New York Cavalry," p. 99 ; Major Merritt's nar- 
 rative.
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 393 
 
 " Now, Barney, I've got a thousand dollars, and I know 
 where there are trees, and ropes are handy. Are you 
 willing to risk it ? " Dahlgren's voice was stern, his tones 
 seriously uniform. 
 
 "I don't know what shu want me to do, sah," said 
 Barney. 
 
 "This paper says you know the James River all the 
 way from Richmond up. Tell me what you know about 
 it." 
 
 " I knows de Jim Riveh, sah, in Goochlan' ; I be'n 
 a-fishin' all along dah eveh sence I knowed how to bait a 
 hook, sah," replied the negro with assurance. 
 
 " Well, what I want you to do is to ride with me and a 
 few more men, and show me the way to get across the 
 James. Can you do that ? " 
 
 " Jest a few men, Co'nel ? In a ferry-boat ? " 
 
 " No, we'll be too big a crowd to risk a ferry. We 
 must have a ford." 
 
 " Yes, sah, we can find a fohd," said Barney, and then 
 added, "if de riveh ain't up." 
 
 " Where would you find a ford ? " 
 
 " Dey's a good un, Co'nel, at Columbia Mills, but dat's 
 up de riveh in Fluvanna. Den dey's anotheh down by 
 Doveh." 
 
 " Will you take the risk of guiding me and my men 
 across the James River for a thousand dollars ? " de- 
 manded the colonel. 
 
 " Yes, sah ; but I be mighty feahed dat I git cotch." 
 
 " We'll be strong enough to protect you. Do you know 
 the roads from Frederick's Hall to the James ? "
 
 394 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Yes, sah." 
 
 " Very well ; now if you want to make that thousand, 
 I'm going to take you ; but I want to tell you plainly, my 
 man, that if you don't expect to guide me right, you'd bet- 
 ter let some other man earn that money. Understand me? 
 If you deceive me, you'd better never have been born." 
 
 " Don't shu fret about dat, sah. I'll take you right 
 whah you want to go, if it's anywhah in Goochlan'." 
 * * * * * * * 
 
 Old Squire had foraged far. As night overtook him he 
 found shelter in a black brother's cabin near Good Hope 
 Church in Spottsylvania County. He had bought corn, 
 only a bushel or so, but a little addition to each feed 
 would eke out the forage ration handsomely, and had 
 bought bread also, and other food, and he would have 
 nothing to do on the morrow except to get back to Mahs 
 Chahley, whom he had left in camp some fifteen miles 
 away. At daylight Squire bade his kind host farewell 
 and started on his return ; but he had not got across the 
 road to Frederick's Hall when he heard shouts, " Halt ! 
 halt ! " and looking northward saw a squad of horsemen, 
 and beyond them the road full of coming cavalry. He 
 had no fears ; he halted at once, little dreaming that he 
 had been halted by a force of Federals. 
 
 " Hello, old man ! Where you belong ? " shouted the 
 foremost of the group, and now the negro saw that this 
 man was in blue. 
 
 " I b'longs to Mahs Chahley, sah," said Squire, uneasy. 
 
 The advance guard had paused ; the head of the column 
 was not two hundred yards away.
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 395 
 
 " Hell you say ! Where ? What's that you got ? 
 Whose mule is that ? " but replies surely were not 
 expected, for the man continued : " Dickson, halt here, 
 and turn over this man to the colonel. Forward ! " 
 
 And in less time than Squire would have needed for 
 telling it, he was in the presence of three men whom he 
 knew three men riding at the head of the column. 
 
 Dickson saluted " Ordered to turn him over, 
 Colonel," saluted again, and spurred on. 
 
 Meanwhile, but one man had paused, Dahlgren himself, 
 who reined his horse to the roadside that the troops might 
 
 There had been many exclamations of surprise or gayety, 
 no doubt from amusement at the negro's peculiar appear- 
 ance, seated on his bag of corn, with three or four fat 
 haversacks dangling on either side of the tough mule 
 which he had cheerfully accepted from Mahs Chahley in 
 exchange for Freeman's good horse. And in these utter- 
 ances the cry of Junior Morgan and that of Barney had 
 passed unnoticed by the troopers. Yes, both had cried 
 out, and had ridden on without pause, each repressing his 
 emotion alike, but from far different impulses, the one 
 concerned for Squire's safety ; the other, doubtless, for 
 his own. 
 
 " Tell me what you are doing here, and all about your- 
 self, sir. " 
 
 The negro's alarm was extreme ; moreover, it was evi- 
 dent. He knew Dahlgren knew him in spite of the 
 crutches. But he knew not how this great soldier had 
 enjoyed and laughed over Junior's revelations how he
 
 396 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 iad declared that Squire was a man after his own heart, 
 and the rest of it. Yet, though Squire feared this officer 
 whom he had cheated in a small game of war, his greatest 
 fear was not for himself, but for Mahs Chahley and his 
 friends. This force of Federal cavalry how strong he 
 could not know had passed through to Lee's rear ; had 
 passed between Hampton and Fitz Lee. What was the 
 purpose of this advance ? The idea that Richmond was 
 in danger could not occur to Squire ; his thought reached 
 not to such absurdly high emprise. He knew nothing of 
 the fact that at this moment Kilpatrick's division, with 
 artillery, was also approaching the Capital. No, his 
 master was in danger ; this cavalry was in Stuart's rear 
 for the purpose of surprise and attack, and he must 
 defend his master, lying, he thought, unguarded in camp. 
 The truth is that Armstrong was at this moment facing 
 the enemy near Charlottesville, where Ouster's brigade 
 was making a diversion in favour of Kilpatrick's Rich- 
 mond movement. Truth is, that Dahlgren cared nothing 
 for Stuart or Fitz Lee, except to learn that they were 
 being enticed away from his own line of march. 
 
 " Yassah, I b'longs to Mahs Chahley, w'at's gawn off wid 
 dem yotheh calvry," answered Squire ; he was temporiz- 
 ing and somehow Dahlgren's hopes caught the answer 
 as acceptable. Did not " gone off with the other cavalry " 
 mean that Stuart was engaged by Custer ? 
 
 " Fitz Lee or Hampton ? Speak quick ! " 
 
 " Mahs Fitz Lee, sah." 
 
 So far, well indeed. " When did they leave camp ? " 
 
 " Yistiddy, sah," a lie and a truth.
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 397 
 
 " Aha ! Charlottesville or Orange ? " 
 
 A stumper, but Squire dodged. "Bofe, sah." He 
 fancied he saw a smile, and was encouraged. 
 
 " Throw down that heavy bag," commanded the officer ; 
 but, as Squire started to obey, added, " What's in it ? " 
 
 "Cawn, Mahsta." 
 
 "Well, never mind, keep it. You come with me; 
 we'll get rid of it soon enough," and Dahlgren pushed 
 on to overtake the head of his column, Squire following. 
 
 Possibly two minutes had been lost in doing what has 
 taken so long to tell. The questions had been fired at the 
 negro like pistol-shots, and the answers had been prompt. 
 Not half of the column had passed ; yet it required ten 
 minutes for the colonel to regain his place, long enough 
 for three men Junior, Squire, Barney each to de- 
 liberate upon his own proper course. 
 
 First : Morgan decided quickly to tell Dahlgren that 
 this negro was Squire. He would do that for the old 
 man's protection. Dahlgren would allow Morgan to 
 defend him. Of course, he could not expect Dahlgren to 
 dismiss this slave noted for his loyalty to Confederates. 
 
 Second : Squire determined to do nothing, and watch 
 his chances. He would see what his acquaintances would 
 do. So long as this body of troops leaned away from 
 Orange, well and good ; if it should change direction and 
 ride toward his friends, he must get away. He doubted 
 Barney, in regard to his own person ; but he had all 
 confidence in his second Mahs Dan. And even though 
 Barney should endeavour to harm him, he felt that with 
 Junior on his side all would be well.
 
 398 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Third : Barney must have felt himself utterly helpless. 
 What could he hope for ? Would Squire betray him in 
 regard to the theft of Freeman's horse ? Would Squire 
 divulge his desertion at Gettysburg? his assisting Ser- 
 geant Morgan's escape near Boonsboro ? If Squire should 
 betray him, he was lost. The morning was cold, but was 
 not Barney's face glistening with sweat ? He was at the 
 mercy of the man he had deserted could he hope that 
 Squire would be merciful? . . . yes, and there was room 
 for one other hope the hope that Dahlgren, still toward 
 the rear, would dismiss the old negro ; but this hope was 
 gone, for now the colonel reached his place, and Squire 
 was just behind him. 
 
 Dahlgren called a halt and ordered the men to feed. 
 
 " Morgan, see to it, please, that this negro's burden of 
 corn is relieved. I want to keep him awhile ; at least 
 until we pass the railroad, and I'm afraid his mule won't 
 keep up. Seems to me I've seen the old chap somewhere." 
 
 " Colonel, I want to tell you something. That old man 
 is none other than Squire." 
 
 Dahlgren raised his hand a little way, and let it fall. 
 
 " And more," said Morgan, who had now remembered 
 that Squire had once spoken of a Barney a follower of 
 some one in Freeman's camp near Aldie, " I think Squire 
 knows Barney." 
 
 " What ! Then keep them apart. Don't let them 
 speak one word to each other." 
 
 " All right, sir. But you can hold me responsible for 
 Squire ; if he will but give me his word, you may feel 
 easy on his account. He is an open enemy, so to speak ;
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 399 
 
 but as for Barney, I am wondering why he doesn't show 
 that he recognizes Squire." 
 
 " Very well, watch them. Find out from Squire what 
 he knows about the other negro." 
 
 When Junior approached him, the old man, having fed 
 his mule with a small quantity of corn allowed him from 
 his own bag, was about to get his breakfast out of one 
 of his many haversacks. " Uncle Squire, you drop from 
 the clouds ? " 
 
 " Yassah, Mahs Dan, but I sho' is proud to meet up 
 wid ju oncet mo'e ; an' de yotheh Mahs Dan, he be'n 
 talk a heap 'bout shu, sah. Whah izh you all a-gwine to, 
 Mahs Dan?" 
 
 The simple question forced a smile. " Ask the colonel, 
 Uncle Squire. Don't you know him ? " 
 
 " Yassah, I be'n seed him befo'e now," and the old 
 man laughed, but somewhat uneasily. 
 
 "Yes, but you have no cause to fear. I've told him 
 about you long before to-day, and he thinks you're all 
 right. And though he will not let you leave us, he has 
 given you into my charge." 
 
 " Yassah, I sho' is mighty proud to heah dat, Mahs 
 Dan. Izh you brung de ginnle, sah ? " 
 
 Again Morgan smiled. " Do you know who that negro 
 is yonder, Squire ? " 
 
 " Yassah, cou'se I knows Bahney." 
 
 " But he doesn't seem to know you" 
 
 " Yassah, me an' him dess had a leetle fallin'-out, sah, 
 an' I see he ain't a-doin' nothin' but a-putt'n' on lak a 
 fool niggeh do."
 
 400 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " What sort of a man is he ? " 
 
 "Mahs Dan, I ain't know yit dess w'at kin' o' man 
 Bahney ain't! I ain't be'n wid him now so long dat he 
 mought be done got wuss'n he wuz." 
 
 More conversation followed, concerning old times at 
 West's. 
 
 "Mahs Dan, I ain't got my mine much sot on yo' 
 gwine about dis a-way. You don't look strong yit." 
 
 " Well, Uncle Squire, you're right, or almost so ; I'm 
 not as strong as I once was ; but I get better all the time. 
 The doctor tells me I shall always hold myself a little 
 bent," for Junior supposed that the negro had observed 
 a very peculiar posture which was natural when at rest 
 a leaning a little forward, as well as a little to the left 
 side. " When did you see my brother last ? Was he well ? " 
 
 " I seed 'im las' week, sah, an' he hoi' he'se'f up mighty 
 well, Mahs Dan." As a matter of fact, Squire had seen 
 the sergeant within two days. 
 
 " And this Barney when did you see him last ? " 
 
 " Mahs Dan, you know dat day w'en we all broke up 
 at Mahs Tom's, an' you went one way an' I went de 
 yotheh way ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " I ain't laid my eyes on dat niggeh sence dat ve'y day. 
 He come along wi' me a piece o' de way, an' he say he 
 gwine to see he mammy one mo'e time, an' I ain't seed 
 'im no mo'e tell back yandeh dess aw'ile ago." 
 
 " Where was his mother ? " 
 
 " He tell me, Mahs Dan, dat she live down in Gooch- 
 lan' some'h's."
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 401 
 
 " Well, Squire, can I depend on you ? " 
 
 The old man hesitated ; he knew not the scope of the 
 demand. 
 
 Morgan read his reluctance ; he believed that the 
 negro had fears of committing himself against his 
 friends. Squire's evident anxiety in regard to the march 
 had betrayed his thought. 
 
 " Uncle Squire, if I will give you my word that we are 
 not going against your people, will you stand by me? 
 You say that I don't look strong ; and I'd like to have 
 you in reach if anything happens to me." Morgan really 
 felt no weakness as yet, but he knew how to get the old 
 man. 
 
 "You not a-gwine to tuhn off an' go up de country, sah?" 
 
 " No, not a foot. If Stuart will let us alone, that's all 
 we ask. And I'll tell you another thing. The colonel 
 wants to keep you, at least for a while ; but if you prom- 
 ise to stay by me, he'll take your word and then I'll 
 see that you are not troubled with a guard." 
 
 " Cou'se, Mahs Dan, I gwine to stan' by you, sah, an' 
 I do all I kin to he'p you, sah ; 'caze de good book hit 
 say eve'ybody mus' stan' togeatheh in de time o' trouble, 
 Mahs Dan." 
 
 "Well, then, it's a bargain, and I want to ask you 
 now just one thing. Don't speak to Barney unless he 
 speaks to you first." 
 
 " Dat don't huht my feelin's, Mahs Dan. I dess be'n 
 a-lookin' at dat boy, an' I be'n a-sayin' to myse'f dat ef 
 you too proud to speak to po' Confeddick niggeh, you 
 kin dess up an' go to de debble." 
 
 2D
 
 402 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Again they were marching, and rapidly. Even ii 
 Squire had not had perfect confidence in Junior's assur- 
 ance that no evil was intended against Stuart's people, 
 when the North Anna had been put behind them all fears 
 were gone ; and he now supposed that these troopers were 
 merely on a raid against some railroad, and when he 
 heard the whistle of a locomotive, he felt that the 
 mystery was solved. 
 
 A mile or two below Frederick's Hall, Dahlgren's 
 command tore up track, cut telegraph wires, captured 
 the court-martial of A. P. Hill's corps, and then 
 pushed on south. 
 
 And to Squire the purpose of the movement was now 
 made clear, even from the speech of the troopers the 
 column was marching on Richmond ! 
 
 In darkness, under the falling rain and snow, Dahl- 
 gren urged on. The roads, bad enough before, became 
 streams of water ; the column of five hundred stretched 
 out for miles ; every prisoner who had the desire, escaped 
 and it may be questioned whether the romantic leader, 
 from the moment when black night fell upon him with 
 storm, had any further hope. His own memoranda con- 
 tained the item that his command must be in position 
 south of the city at ten o'clock of the following day ; 
 yet the column was floundering along quagmires of roads, 
 in Egyptian darkness a straggling, broken-down hand- 
 ful of men, led by an uncertain guide, with a great river 
 to cross if possible, and yet forty miles ! Surely his 
 stout heart must have failed even then of hope. Yet he 
 kept on.
 
 404 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 Before midnight the South Anna was crossed. At two 
 o'clock, the rain showing no abatement, Dahlgren felt 
 forced to halt ; the column was no longer a column ; 
 his men must be allowed to close up. 
 
 Ever since crossing the railroad, old Squire's practical 
 mind had regarded the march as folly ; he expected 
 every man to be killed or taken. The negro had heard 
 loud boasts from the men : they would take Richmond ; 
 some of them said they would destroy it, laughing up- 
 roariously ; the prisoners in Belle Isle should be freed ; 
 Jeff Davis and everybody else should be hanged. 
 Occasionally one would strike up the old tune to the new 
 words, " We'll hang Jeff Davis to a sour apple tree ! " 
 and perhaps there were some green recruits who believed 
 they stood a chance of seeing the execution of the Con- 
 federate President ; but all this had been at the first, 
 before the dark night and the rain and the mud and the 
 groping ; now there was no cheer, nothing but despon- 
 dency and weariness. 
 
 Yet the morning brought the renewal of hope, at 
 least to the men, for off leftward could be heard the 
 sounds of cannon ; was not Kilpatrick clearing the way 
 into Richmond ? 
 
 But Dahlgren? Whatever he may have felt, he still 
 acted as though he were marching on to success. 
 Whether by accident or design, the road that Barney had 
 taken in the dark night, was not the road to the good ford 
 at Columbia, and Dahlgren ordered him to lead to the 
 nearest place where the river could be crossed. 
 
 The column approached Dover Mills at ten o'clock, the
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 405 
 
 moment when it should have appeared south of the city 
 a position not possible now to reach in safety, give what 
 time you may. 
 
 Dahlgren soon learned that at Dover Mills, or any- 
 where near by, no crossing of the James was practicable 
 except by boats, and he turned upon his guide and 
 accused him of treachery. 
 
 " You declared to me that you could cross here. What 
 have you to say for yourself ? " 
 
 " Co'nel, I swaih to God dat I be'n acrawst sheah befo'e 
 now, sah ; I be'n waded acrawst sheah, and up higheh, 
 and down loweh, an' I ain't give it up yet, sah. We can 
 go on down dis side, sah, and I know I can find a place to 
 git acrawst." 
 
 " Then lead on, and I'll swear to you that if you do not 
 speedily guide me to a ford, I'll hang you and leave your 
 carcass for the birds to pick." 
 
 Barney led on, down the James. Captain Mitchell was 
 commanded to take a hundred men and follow the tow-path 
 of the canal, convoying the ambulances, the prisoners, and 
 the crowds of slaves who sought freedom under the pro- 
 tection of the force. 
 
 Dahlgren's words to Barney had reached Squire's ears ; 
 they had been heard by many. Morgan beckoned to 
 Squire to come nearer. 
 
 " Colonel," said the lieutenant, " it seems that Barney 
 refuses to recognize Squire." 
 
 " What do you know about this river, old man ? " asked 
 Dahlgren, oblivious for the moment to everything but the 
 necessity for a ford.
 
 406 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Mahsta, I don't know noth'n', sah ; I ain't nuvveh 
 be'n heah befo'e." 
 
 " What do you know about that man ? " pointing to the 
 guide, now some yards at the front. 
 
 Squire feared that Barney was in peril, yet his fears 
 were not commensurate with the reality of the danger. 
 The old negro had heard too many unexecuted threats to 
 allow him to give complete faith in this terrible menace ; 
 yet he feared, for there was in Dahlgren's voice and 
 feature and manner a dreadful compound of resolution. 
 And Squire had no hope of a ford ; as he had glanced 
 around his eyes had fallen upon a sail vessel coming 
 down. 1 The broad river at the right, in his opinion, was 
 surely unfordable. The old man answered, his voice 
 trembling, "I dess knows dat he use to cook feh Cap'm 
 Freeman, sah." 
 
 "Do you know where he belongs? Where is his 
 home?" 
 
 "Yassah leastways I knows dat he alluz said 'at he 
 come f'om GoochlanV 
 
 The answer was favourable ; Dahlgren rode on. 
 
 But soon the thing that Squire had seen came into view 
 of all, and it destroyed the smallest lingering hope. 
 
 "Halt!" cried Dahlgren. 
 
 Every eye was upon the vessel, and the thought of 
 every man was the same thought : that boat was going to 
 Richmond, and it drew too much water to allow the belief 
 that there was a ford anywhere below. 
 
 The guide's face was averted. Possibly it will never be 
 1 Major Merritt's narrative.
 
 THE FIVE HUNDRED 407 
 
 known whether Barney himself had been deceived pos- 
 sibly it will never be known whether Dahlgren's act was 
 punishment for betrayal, or for incompetency whose result 
 was no less disastrous. 
 
 Barney's fear was evident ; though his face was unseen 
 by the front files, the fact that he held himself rigid was 
 almost confession. 
 
 What Dahlgren's mind, Squire's mind, Barney's mind, 
 underwent, who shall say ? 
 
 Only the deed can be told ; the fear, the pity, the 
 horror, all these must forever linger in the hearts of those 
 who saw, those who thereafter shunned the recollection. 
 
 Dahlgren pointed to the guide. He said a few words 
 to a sergeant : " Take four men. Hang that negro. Be 
 sure you make an end of it ! " 
 
 Then he commanded the march ; the column moved on 
 ... no longer following Barney . . . and as they moved 
 the voice of entreaty was heard behind them . . . 
 ******* 
 
 At a later hour, Captain Mitchell, rejoining the column, 
 reported that he had found the guide's body hanging by 
 the roadside, and had buried it.
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 
 
 "The toil o' the wr 
 
 A pain that only seems to seek out danger 
 I* the name of fame and honour, which dies i' the search, 
 And hath as oft a slanderous epitaph 
 
 As record of fair fact." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 AT three o'clock Dahlgren halted his column on the 
 Westhain plank road within view of the Richmond in- 
 trenchments and made preparation to attack the Con- 
 federate Capital with his five hundred men. The crowds 
 of negro refugees were sent off toward the north, with 
 a prudence that seems to reveal Dahlgren's hopelessness 
 of success in his present attack ; as for his officers, they 
 obeyed his commands. 
 
 Squire now had a good rest. He was gloomy, but he 
 knew how to rest. He had already begged Morgan to 
 take measures for his own safety, begged even while he 
 knew that his advice would be scorned ; yet the lieu- 
 tenant was far from believing the negro's opinion un- 
 warranted, and he would go forward without hope. 
 
 "You are going to wait for me, Uncle Squire?" 
 
 408
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 409 
 
 " Oh, yassah ; you gwine to fine me right sheah, sah 
 leastways ef you gits back." 
 
 With a line of skirmishers right and left, the column 
 moved forward on the road, and soon disappeared in the 
 dusk. Squire was not alone ; there were white men and 
 black men lingering here in the rear to await the result, 
 and he heard their speech, and not one expressed hope ; 
 the only spoken opinion was that Dahlgren was but 
 losing time that should be used in retreating. The old 
 negro's head was greatly muddled. In regard to himself 
 had he one intention beyond that of waiting ? one pur- 
 pose that was not merely involuntary ? Without the will 
 or even the seeming need for thought, there must have 
 flitted through his brain an incoherent succession of ideas 
 unconsidered because of apathy akin to that which is the 
 effect of a certain drug. From his talks with Sergeant 
 Morgan afterward, we know that the death of Barney 
 had almost unsettled the old man ; in a dazed condition 
 he was living moment by moment, with his own future 
 a thing that gave him no interest. True, there were 
 times when his thought of Barney joined fast hold upon 
 thought of Dr. Lacy; but these times were as brief as 
 those moments when he thought of the rain, or of the 
 wet earth, or of aught else too trivial to continue. In- 
 stinct alone upheld him, the instinct of loyalty ; he had 
 promised; he must keep his promise, for Mahs Dan, 
 this other Mahs Dan, was one of his people the only 
 one who could now receive his service. Even while he 
 heard shots from the advancing skirmishers, and heard 
 the answering volleys of the Confederates, the old man
 
 410 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 sank to sleep ; and when he awoke he found Dahlgren's 
 command about him, reorganizing for further march, and 
 Morgan standing over him in the rain. 
 
 How Junior got through that night he never knew. 
 Gusts of wind tore through the woods. The rain, the 
 snow, the sleet, the darkness, the straggling, disheartened 
 column, the impress of defeat, the almost certainty of 
 capture, were confused into one overwhelming horror 
 against which naught save the influence of discipline 
 might furnish a rally ing-point for resistance. Dead and 
 wounded abandoned, the knowledge that Kilpatrick's divi- 
 sion had marched away after dismal failure to effect 
 more than a panic of citizens ; the sixty perhaps a hun- 
 dred miles to march if safety should ever be reached, 
 the swollen rivers to cross where elated enemies must 
 be met ; the stumbling horses, the silent riders, the pain, 
 the torture, the ignominy all these, who shall tell ? 
 
 About midnight Dahlgren reached Hungary Station, 
 eight miles north of Richmond. The column closed. 
 The column ? There were but a hundred men ; where 
 were the four hundred ? 
 
 The colonel and his few remaining officers held a con- 
 sultation. It was clear that Captain Mitchell, at the 
 head of the detachment of the Second New York, had 
 been unable to follow in the darkness; four hundred 
 men had turned off upon some other road, to the right, 
 or left, who could say? 
 
 It was agreed that to wait would be too hazardous. 
 The next thing to decide was the best route into safety. 
 Dahlgren laid before the little council all that was known,
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 411 
 
 especially the fact that General Butler, near Yorktown, 
 had been ordered to send a force toward Richmond for 
 the support of Kilpatrick, and the opinion that Kilpat- 
 rick's division, with the enemy following, had marched 
 eastward to meet the force of Butler's. Only three 
 courses were possible to consider: first, to march back 
 nearly in the way they had come ; second, to endeavour 
 to reach Kilpatrick by marching down the peninsula 
 toward Yorktown ; third, to make across the Pamunkey 
 and Mattapony rivers and move down to Gloucester 
 Point opposite Yorktown. 
 
 Of these propositions Morgan gave his voice for the 
 second ; and urged his reasons with force. He contended 
 that the first was in reality outside of consideration. 
 Stuart's cavalry were now alert, and every ford of every 
 river would be guarded ; the command would be captured 
 long before the Rapidan could be reached ; the third plan 
 involved a journey almost impossible even if no enemy 
 should intervene in their front ; the least hope to outstrip 
 their pursuers in a march of eighty miles, their own 
 horses already weakened, was too great; besides, they 
 must make their way across two rivers at either of which 
 they might easily be arrested ; the second course offered 
 a possibility, in that, once escaping the enemy who were 
 supposed to hang upon Kilpatrick's rear, an enemy not 
 sufficiently strong to block all the roads, safety would be 
 found within a single day. 
 
 The final decision was made : they must attempt to 
 reach Gloucester Point ; the column was again in motion. 
 
 Now Morgan called the negro to his side, and said,
 
 412 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 u Uncle Squire, we have a long march to make, and I'm 
 going to bid you good-by. You can easily get back to 
 your people, and I'll keep you no longer. Good-by, 
 Uncle Squire." 
 
 The negro's face was invisible, and Junior could per- 
 ceive no change in ^his tones ; perhaps he had already 
 become utterly indifferent to his own fate ; he answered, 
 "No, Mahs Dan, I gwine to stay wid ju; I ain't got 
 nobody no mo'e to stay wid but shu ; an' I gwine to stay 
 tell I can't stay no mo'e." And Morgan wrung the 
 slave's hand and prayed God to bless him, for he knew 
 that Squire believed all the Federals would soon be in 
 prison, yet was determined to be faithful until the final 
 disaster should separate them. 
 
 Soon after the column had crossed the Chickahominy a 
 train of ambulances was met, the Federal wounded of Kil- 
 patrick's division being taken to Richmond, and from 
 these men Dahlgren learned definitely that Kilpatrick, 
 attacked by a body of Stuart's cavalry under Hampton, 
 had retreated eastward, making down the Peninsula. 
 
 At dawn the column approached the Pamunkey, and now, 
 if they had but turned down the river road they would 
 soon have found Kilpatrick, who waited for them until 
 one o'clock that day at Old Church. Instead, Dahlgren 
 led on to the river ; here the ferry-boat could be seen on 
 the opposite side, and adventurous men soon swam the 
 river and brought it over. Meanwhile the precious rest 
 of two or three hours was had, it requiring until eleven 
 o'clock to complete the crossing. 
 
 From this time Dahlgren felt no fear of immediate
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 413 
 
 pursuit by the force that had attacked Kilpatrick ; yet 
 he had come upon ground no less perilous : from the 
 Pamurikey at Hanovertown Ferry onward to the Matta- 
 pony at Aylett's he encountered small irregular bodies of 
 the enemy, f urloughed men who had got together at the 
 news of the Yankees, and endeavoured to delay their 
 march ; and when, at two o'clock, the Mattapony had been 
 crossed, the dangers grew until disaster became inevitable. 
 The road, it is true, turned down the river, but this was 
 the country of home guards, and the picketing ground 
 of small outlying detachments of Stuart's cavalry, while 
 Gloucester Point was yet fifty miles distant. If Dahlgren 
 had now had his five hundred men, he could have over- 
 ridden all these foes, but his command had dwindled to 
 seventy men fit for service, and their cartridges were 
 almost gone. At six o'clock another halt became horribly 
 necessary. Rain still, and cold, and greater weariness; 
 the men and horses must be fed. The barns yielded corn 
 to force ; the men made fires and cooked ; the horses 
 fed ; a hundred contrabands in the rear rejoiced in the 
 prospect of freedom. But meanwhile swift riders were 
 carrying tidings to Captain Bagby of the home guards, to 
 Captain Todd of the home guards, to Lieutenant Pollard 
 of the Ninth Virginia, on detached service, to Captain 
 Magruder, to Captain Fox, to every furloughed man and 
 every home guard within reach. 
 
 At nine o'clock the column moved on, but moved not far. 
 From the rear came discharges from carbines, from shot- 
 guns, from muskets, scattering the negroes, many of whom 
 at once sought refuge in the woods nothing seen but
 
 4H OLD SQUIRE 
 
 the wet road and the flashes of a hundred guns to which 
 we could make but feeble reply. A picket of three men, 
 sent forward at the last halt, had been seen no more, 
 and now all knew that the enemy held the ground in 
 front. Yet we moved on. 
 
 Dahlgren sent forward an advance guard only six 
 men and almost at once rode to their head. 
 
 Then the enemy challenged from ambush. 
 
 " Surrender, or we fire ! " cried Dahlgren. 
 
 In reply the forest sparkled with volleys from the 
 front. 
 
 The column fell back in confusion ; and at once a fire 
 was opened against us on the flanks. 
 
 Dahlgren had fallen, pierced with five balls. 
 
 In great disorder the men filed out of the road into the 
 woods at the right. 
 
 A guide who had been pressed into service was missing ; 
 we knew he would tell the enemy that our ammunition 
 had been exhausted. 
 
 The men, helpless, lay on the ground in a small field at 
 the south of the road. All hope had long since gone. 
 
 Officers counselled the disbanding of the force. All 
 around, except on the side next the river, the lights of 
 fires began to show in the woods our enemies would 
 wait till the morning to give the finishing stroke. 
 
 Men began to steal away afoot ; they would try to slip 
 between the fires, thoughtless of the pickets intervening. 
 Groups went. The officer now in command, Major Cooke, 
 ordered all to destroy their arms except pistols. 
 
 Morgan felt a hand laid on his arm. " Mahs Dan, dey's
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 415 
 
 all a-gwyin' to go all 'scusin' dem w'at's done broke 
 down." 
 
 " Yes, Uncle Squire, I must try it too." 
 
 l Yassah ; w'ich a-way izh you gwine, sah ? " 
 
 " Lord, I don't know ; just risk it as the others through 
 the woods ; but I wish to God I could get across the 
 river." 
 
 "Yassah, dat's de bes' way ; you come along wi' me, Mahs 
 Dan, an' ef we can't git acrawst, we kin a'most, least- 
 ways ef de good Lawd '11 dess be on ouah side dess one 
 mo'e time." 
 
 Morgan was astounded at the offer ; he knew that this 
 negro must leave his possessions, and must endure hard- 
 ship after hardship. He pressed the slave's hand. 
 
 " Mahs Dan, I got a whole lot o' bread jit, an' I 'spec' 
 we not a-gwine to git no mo'e soon. You kin put awn 
 one o' dezhe heah havehsacks, an' I kin tote two, an' we kin 
 dess let all de res' go ; an' you betteh save yo' whiskey." 
 
 Morgan gladly assented ; he believed that to recross the 
 river would be to find comparative safety ; true, the 
 Pamunkey also must be crossed, but its banks would not 
 be lined with pickets, and time would be had in which to 
 secure a boat, perhaps ; the Mattapony was the trouble, 
 for only half a mile of its steep banks was accessible 
 because of enemies in front and rear. 
 
 " Tek yo' picket rope along, Mahs Dan, an' yo' reins, an' 
 all yo' straps ; I 'spec' we gwine to need 'em. Ef you 
 can't swim, Mahs Dan, we got to mek a mighty big raf, 
 leastways ef we can't fin' no boat, an' I don't 'spec' we 
 kin."
 
 416 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 " Swim like a duck, Uncle Squire." 
 
 It was past midnight ; the dense darkness was in their 
 favour in one respect, against them in others. Squire led 
 to the right, Morgan close behind ; and now Junior was 
 surprised at his own strength. Riding, he had felt 
 exhausted ; walking seemed a relief ; perhaps the excite- 
 ment due to this individual enterprise had given him 
 stimulus. 
 
 At last they stood near the river a black, indefinite 
 chasm. They dared speak only in whispers. 
 
 " You seddown, Mahs Dan, an' stay right sheah tell I 
 git back ag'in," and now Junior was alone. 
 
 The sound of a shot broke the silence in his rear, per- 
 haps fired at some Federal stealing between the enemy's 
 pickets. 
 
 Morgan's hope of success was small ; the river could be 
 crossed, yet he saw not how to prevent freezing in his 
 wet clothes when he should reach the southern bank. 
 Squire was resourceful, but how could he make a raft suf- 
 ficient to uphold their effects ? How, even, could they 
 descend this steep bluff ? 
 
 But Squire returned and bade him follow; Morgan felt 
 himself going down a gentle slope, and soon was in the 
 midst of bushes. 
 
 " Got to be mighty sly now, Mahs Dan," said the 
 slave ; " dey's mighty clost by. We's a-gwine down to 
 de mouf o' dis creek, an' den we kin land in de ribeh." 
 
 It was a short but toilsome stage ; through brush and 
 brier they crept on slowly, at every yard or two stum- 
 bling over some log or rail which the back-waters of the
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 417 
 
 last freshet had stranded ; and at every such obstacle the 
 negro gave a grunt of satisfaction, which Morgan was not 
 long in construing. 
 
 At the mouth of the creek the negro again bade the 
 lieutenant remain, and soon he could be heard dragging 
 some heavy thing about. Morgan insisted on helping ; 
 but Squire, with obvious hypocrisy, asserted that one 
 must hold the point gained, in order to signal the worker 
 back to the spot. Yet the old man seemed to work in the 
 darkness by instinct, and in half an hour had dragged to 
 the place a collection of old timbers that he pronounced 
 sufficient. 
 
 The raft must be made in the water ; Squire stripped, 
 and Morgan helped the negro, now in the creek. With 
 the picket ropes they succeeded in lashing together two 
 stout timbers of unequal length, and upon them crosswise 
 three pieces of rails ; on the top of these they tied half a 
 dozen longer rails parallel with the base. But before this 
 top layer had been fixed, Morgan was naked and in the 
 cold water. 
 
 At length they tied their clothing, blankets, and haver- 
 sacks, and fastened them to the floor of the raft ; then 
 they dropped into the creek and pushed their ramshackle 
 craft out into the main stream, side by side, each swim- 
 ming with one hand on a stringer. 
 
 They landed on the south bank, a quarter of a mile 
 below, without accident, and, but for the cold, without 
 great suffering. Lest it be detected at daylight, and pur- 
 suit begun, Squire demolished his raft and pushed the 
 several parts down the stream ; and when each had taken 
 la
 
 418 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 a great draught of whiskey, and had got his clothes on, 
 the adventure seemed little perilous. 
 
 A rapid walk through woods and fields quickly warmed 
 them ; then, ignorant of the course they were taking, 
 they slept until dawn, when Morgan consulted his map, 
 and they marched cautiously south for the Pamunkey. 
 He would strike it below White House ; it ought to be 
 not more than ten miles away ; they would reach it in 
 the early afternoon, in ample time to secure a boat before 
 the day was gone ; then, in the darkness, they would 
 cross, and he had little doubt that he should find Kil- 
 patrick or Butler's forces near by. And the result proved 
 that he was correct in all these opinions. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Colonel Spear, in command of a Federal cavalry bri- 
 gade, had been ordered by General Butler to march up 
 the Peninsula to the support of Kilpatrick. On the morn- 
 ing of the 4th the brigade left camp at New Kent Court- 
 House Kilpatrick having marched on down, upon the 
 3d, with Captain Mitchell and Dahlgren's four hundred, 
 who had overtaken him and began its return toward 
 Williamsburg, which place it reached at four o'clock. 
 
 Colonel Spear brought with him a man whom he had 
 found below New Kent a man seemingly exhausted, 
 and whom the surgeon at once put to bed when he was 
 brought on to Yorktown. This man said that Dahlgren's 
 command had been ambushed near King and Queen Court- 
 House, and the colonel killed ; he had been with Dahl- 
 gren, and with the help of a negro had crossed two rivers 
 and made his way into safety. The man gave his name
 
 WHERE GLORY LED 419 
 
 as Morgan, and his rank as lieutenant. Questioned by 
 Colonel Spear as to what had become of the negro, Mor- 
 gan's answers were seemingly reluctant. The negro, he 
 said, had seen the Federal cavalry coming on the road, 
 and had refused to come farther. He did not tell that 
 he had emptied his purse into the negro's pockets.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 FATE'S DISCHARGES 
 
 "Speak, or thy silence on the instant is 
 Thy condemnation and thy death." 
 
 SHAKESPEARE. 
 
 WHETHER right or wrong, wise or unwise, no sooner 
 had Squire seen blue cavalry coming than he announced 
 his decision to go no farther with the Federal lieutenant. 
 
 "Mahs Dan, you's done got back to yo' folks, an' now 
 I's got to git back to mine. Fah you well, Mahs Dan. 
 An' ef you nuvveh see me no mo'e in dis wohl', 'membeh 
 ole Squiah." 
 
 Lieutenant Morgan was taken to Yorktown, and thence 
 to Washington, where he long lay ill of a nervous fever, 
 brought on according to Dr. Lacy afterward by ex- 
 posure and mental distress ; his late companion, mean- 
 while, made his way back to his master ; and so great 
 was Squire's success on his return journey that he 
 appeared in camp without having been missed, Stuart's 
 men having themselves been out for a full week engaged 
 in provident blocking of the fords lest Kilpatrick's col- 
 umn return through Spottsylvania ; and Squire's horse, 
 which he had purchased from a farmer with part of the 
 
 420
 
 FATE'S DISCHARGES 421 
 
 money Junior had given him, was almost the only palpa- 
 ble evidence of what the negro had undergone. 
 
 ******* 
 
 On the 4th of May General Grant's army crossed the 
 Rapidan and marched into The Wilderness. 
 
 At this time Andrew Morgan was still in Washington, 
 and Jennie West was expecting him to come for her, her 
 father's opposition to their marriage having been com- 
 pletely conquered a month before by the return of Usher, 
 exchanged through Junior's efforts. Lacy had found 
 time to devote to his old patient, and had demanded that 
 Morgan should never reenter service. The marriage 
 would take place on Wednesday, the llth. 
 
 On the 4th of May, while the Army of the Potomac 
 was crossing the Rapidan, Sergeant Morgan and his 
 friends at the head of their brigade, with old Squire and 
 other camp servants in its rear, were riding from Orange 
 Court-House toward The Wilderness ; and Captain Free- 
 man, now recovered from his wound, was riding at the 
 head of his company on Grant's flank. 
 
 While Grant's and Lee's infantry were wrestling in the 
 dark thickets, the cavalry on the south were frequently 
 in close contact ; where an opening was found, road or 
 field, there the horsemen would meet on either flank a 
 line of dismounted men in the bushes. In this road or 
 field, for a while, the Confederates would gain ground ; 
 in that, for a while, the Union troops would win advan- 
 tage ; and each side would eagerly strive to make pris- 
 oners that through close questioning definite knowledge 
 might be gained of forces opposite. Many of these
 
 422 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 combats had no seeming connection with each other, and 
 all of them but little result except to increase the number 
 of the dead. Yet, with it all, Stuart's main purpose 
 to work around Grant's flank and block the roads to the 
 south was successful, his lines working on and on until 
 his force at the critical moment held Spottsylvania Court- 
 House and prevented the capture of this strong position 
 where Lee withstood Grant from the 9th until the 20th 
 of May. 
 
 In one of these many unnamed skirmishes, Freeman's 
 command had driven its opponents back upon a narrow 
 road for more than a mile. The forces contending were 
 about equally small, but Freeman's men had been armed 
 recently with the terrible Spencer repeating carbine, and 
 no enemy twice their number could stand their eight vol- 
 leys to one. And Freeman, on this day, was trying to do 
 his best. 
 
 At length, in one headlong run, the Federal advance, 
 outstripping its main body far, had galloped to the edge 
 of a little bivouac from which the camp followers of the 
 rebels had just retreated. Firing continued ; dead and 
 wounded began to fall on both sides, for here the enemy 
 had made their strong rally ; but as his company came up 
 in force, Freeman again ordered the charge, and his men, 
 with a great shout and a last loud emptying of guns, 
 drove like a storm into the little encampment. 
 
 ******* 
 
 A riderless horse had rushed away ; a soldier lay upon 
 the ground in a dense thicket, a negro kneeling over him. 
 
 " Izh you huht bad, Mahs Dan ? "
 
 FATE'S DISCHARGES 423 
 
 The voice was a whisper, for the conquering Federals 
 were close at hand; their shouts were easily heard, and 
 even the stamping of their horses. 
 
 To Squire's speech Morgan made no answer. The negro 
 bent lower ; he drew a knife from his pocket and cut the 
 soldier's canteen straps ; then he sprinkled water on the 
 face of the wounded man, who soon opened his eyes. 
 
 " Izh you huht bad, Mahs Dan ? " 
 
 Morgan raised his left hand, and muttered, " Turn me 
 over." 
 
 The old man succeeded in obeying, and now saw the 
 right arm bent at a horrible angle above the elbow. 
 Squire rose to his feet; he must seek help. 
 
 Shots were yet coming from both sides. Freeman held 
 the bivouac, but the negro knew it not. 
 
 "Squire," said Morgan, the voice feeble, yet reaching 
 the negro's ear. Again Squire bent. 
 
 " You must get help . . . but be very careful ; don't 
 show yourself until you know that you're right . . . you 
 may run into the Yankees anywhere in these woods." 
 
 " Yassah, I sho' gwine to be sho' befo'e I go up to 'em. 
 Izh you huht bad, Mahs Dan? " 
 
 "The arm I suppose I must lose it. But, Squire, 
 you must not let the Yankees see you. I'd rather lie 
 here for days than go to prison. Be very slow and 
 careful." 
 
 " Yassah," and the negro went, going, as he supposed, 
 toward the rear of his bivouac. Instead, he ran into the 
 ranks of men, who, too late, he saw were clothed in blue. 
 
 Too late, indeed, for as he rushed forward he had cried,
 
 424 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 "Oh, Mahsta! please, sah, come an' sen' somebody to 
 git Mahs Dan Mawgin." 
 
 " Oh, yes, I know you, dam you ! at your same old 
 tricks. Captain Freeman ! Captain Freeman ! " 
 
 The words had been shouted by Private Hawley, who 
 had instantly recognized the old man, and had urged out 
 of ranks and grasped him by the collar. 
 
 " What is it, Hawley ? " 
 
 " That dam'd old Squire, sir, begging your pardon. He 
 comes right out o' the woods, right there, and wants us to 
 help Dan Morgan again." 
 
 " So, I've got you at last, have I ? " exclaimed Freeman. 
 His tone was very angry, and doubtless the slave's heart 
 sank even yet lower within him. 
 
 " Mahsta, I ain't a-doin' noth'n', an' I ain't be'n a-doin' 
 noth'n' but a-tendin' to my mahsta." 
 
 " And where is your master ? " 
 
 Squire was silent ; yet in a moment he seems to have 
 conceived that speech was best. 
 
 " He done dess now gawn back, Mahsta." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; you're attending to your master, and I 
 promise you that I'm going to attend to you. Where is 
 my horse, you scoundrel ? " 
 
 Men were pressing around Hawley, who, leaning for- 
 ward in his saddle, still held the negro. It was getting 
 dark. 
 
 " Back to your places ! " shouted Freeman, sternly. 
 
 " Just look at his hands, Captain ; they are all over 
 blood." 
 
 Freeman's orders to learn what force was on this road
 
 FATE'S DISCHARGES 425 
 
 had been imperative ; his personal vengeance must give 
 way, at least for a time. 
 
 "Now, old man, I know you. You will answer my 
 questions, and truthfully, or I'll have you shot. I'll 
 not take time to hang you. I'll shoot you here in this 
 spot unless you answer me. So help me God, I will. 
 And you need not think to cheat me. I know you and 
 your ways. You will tell me at once whose troops are in 
 our front, and you will show me the wounded man you're 
 trying to hide. Quick, now I " 
 
 " Yassah, Mahsta ... I tell you, sah ; hit's Ginnle 
 Stuaht, an' hit's Ginnle Lee, Mahsta." 
 
 The answer enraged Freeman. Certainly he knew 
 already that whatever force he met was Lee's ; certainly 
 he knew already that every cavalryman was Stuart's ; 
 yet against combined ignorance and obstinacy who can 
 prevail ? 
 
 " Whose blood is that ? Answer me at once." 
 
 Squire lifted his red palms. " Oh, Mahsta, dat's w'at 
 I got awff'n a chicken. I was dess a-killin' a chicken 
 right oveh dah, Mahsta, w'en you all come up an' skeehed 
 me away in de woods." 
 
 At this instant a terrible blast of cannon, and the thicket 
 rattled with canister shot. 
 
 " Dismount and form I " shouted Freeman. He had 
 turned his head and was now giving orders to construct a 
 barricade across the road, and to the men to withhold 
 their fire. Hawley yet held the negro ; he was leaning 
 over, still in the saddle, his hand clutching Squire's collar. 
 
 And then there came to the poor trembling slave a
 
 426 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 wonderful deliverance . . . Hawley's hold relaxed, and at 
 the same second of time the repeated detonation of artil- 
 lery shook the woods ; at the next instant the cavalry- 
 man was falling, and Freeman's horse, frantic with pain, 
 was rushing away heedless of his rider. 
 
 Squire's wonder at Hawley's releasing him lasted but a 
 moment ; before the man had begun to fall, he knew by 
 the bursting shell what had happened, and he had lightly 
 stepped aside, and then had thrown himself down by the 
 now prostrate soldier ; a moment more and he was crawl- 
 ing through the thicket in the darkness. 
 
 Two hours later, the Federals having retired, he guided 
 men to the spot where he had left Sergeant Morgan ; and 
 before sunrise of the next day that brave soldier had been 
 compelled to submit to the loss of his sword-arm.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 NO GREATER LOVE 
 
 " Bring me an axe and spade, 
 
 Bring me a winding-sheet. ..." 
 
 BLAKE. 
 
 SHERIDAN, with ten thousand men, rode around Lee's 
 right flank and marched upon Richmond. Stuart fol- 
 lowed, and with three small brigades met the Federal 
 cavalry at Yellow Tavern some seven miles out from the 
 Capital. 
 
 It was the llth of May, Wednesday. Jennie West was 
 married on this day, and on this day Sheridan marched 
 from Ashland upon Stuart, who faced northwest, his line 
 across the road to Richmond. From eleven o'clock until 
 four little impression was made upon the Confederate 
 lines, the brigade of Wickham on the right, that of 
 Lomax on the left, with a reserve of but part of one regi- 
 ment the First Virginia. 
 
 Stuart's extreme left was west of the road, two guns in 
 the road, another upon a hill farther toward the flank. 
 
 At four o'clock Sheridan engaged the whole of Stuart's 
 line, and at the same time threw forward Custer's brigade 
 to charge the guns on the Confederate left. 
 
 427
 
 428 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 At this time General Stuart was with his right wing, 
 half a mile away or more, but the speedy report coming 
 that mounted cavalry were threatening his guns, he rode 
 southward in all haste. 
 
 Ouster's charge was led by the First Michigan, Major 
 Howrigan at the head of the leading squadron. 
 
 The Confederates, closely engaged along the entire line, 
 held to their work at every point, until Howrigan rode 
 over the two cannon on the pike, capturing guns and 
 gunners, cutting off Stuart's left, and threatening the 
 destruction of the whole Confederate line. 
 
 Now Stuart stormed up, crying aloud to his men to 
 rally. 
 
 Yet the guns had been lost beyond recovery. A great 
 gap was in the line, and into the gap, and on, following the 
 scattered Confederates, the Fifth Michigan advanced. 
 
 Meanwhile, all the right was holding, and at the left of 
 the captured guns still stood some small companies firing 
 into the flank and rear of the Federals that had moved 
 through the gap and with these few men Stuart held, 
 in the last effort of his life. 
 
 The Michigan regiments, pouring through the gap, 
 were met by the First Virginia. 
 
 Now the battle raged along the right where the rebel 
 lines were yet unbroken, and all about the isolated left 
 where Stuart was, and behind this hill, where the First 
 was charging. 
 
 Stuart's old regiment, on that day, fought not only its 
 last fight under the eye of its first commander, but it 
 fought for his safety from capture, and its efforts were
 
 NO GREATER LOVE 429 
 
 equal to the crisis, the enemy were thrown back, and 
 Stuart's person was saved : yet even as the Michigan 
 men were retiring, their fire, directed at Stuart's group, 
 wounded the general to the death. 
 
 The First Virginia was already in disorder from its 
 charge ; its success had been but partial, but momentary ; 
 already the ground was spotted with its best. 
 
 On that little hill the bloody wave again flowed back, 
 and the Federals held all the line from which Stuart's left 
 had been driven, and the Confederates were forced to form 
 a new line of the left wing, resting at an angle upon the 
 yet unbroken right. 
 
 Now the balls from both sides swept the hill between 
 the lines, where lay blue men and gray men, and horses 
 of both. 
 
 ******* 
 
 The sun was setting. Gloom and anger, defeat and 
 grief, upon the faces of the Virginians. Their sun was 
 setting. Stuart had been placed in an ambulance, and 
 had been driven toward Richmond ; men said in whispers 
 that he had fought his last battle. 
 
 Joe Lewis had not been injured ; back at the rear he 
 found old Squire, busy over his cooking, near the line of 
 horse-holders. 
 
 " Mahs Joe," said Squire, nervously, " how come you 
 don't stay wi' Mahs Chahley ? " 
 
 The negro had risen ; his hands were clasped together ; 
 perhaps he read Joe Lewis's face. 
 
 " Squire, I'm afeared that George and Charley are both 
 of 'em down. Fact is, I know they're down, and I'm
 
 430 OLD SQUIRE 
 
 a-thinkin' we can't keep the Yanks from gittin' 'em ; but 
 I'm a-hopin' neither one ain't got it hard." 
 
 " Oh, Mahs Joe, tell me whah Mahs Chahley is. Tell 
 me whah dey is." 
 
 44 Out in front between the lines out at the left front. 
 I got to go on, Squire ; jest got to go on and git cartridges 
 
 for the company." 
 
 #****** 
 
 They had fallen almost together, there on the little 
 hill over which from both directions the bullets were 
 flying. 
 
 Sency recovered some strength ; yet when he tried to 
 walk he found he could not ; any motion was with great 
 anguish. He sat up, and saw riderless horses rushing 
 through smoke and dust, and off at the left heard a great 
 mutter of hoof -beats, which sound swelled out louder, and 
 he lay flat again as a regiment of horsemen charged over 
 the hill. 
 
 ******* 
 
 Sency again tried to reach Armstrong, and at length 
 succeeded. What he has told of that night's horror has 
 been little ; he seemed always to shun its remembrance. 
 
 But we know that still there was fighting even until 
 dark had set in, the Federals making partial attacks and 
 being repulsed, until in one combined assault they drove 
 the Confederates from all their new position ; and that at 
 eleven o'clock Sheridan marched away from that field of 
 victory and death. 
 
 While the bullets were flying both ways, about night- 
 fall, Sency heard a cry, and answered as best he might
 
 NO GREATER LOVE 431 
 
 a cry and an answer not for him who answered, but 
 for him who could not. 
 
 And then Sency became aware that a negro had come. 
 
 The bullets were flying both ways. 
 
 Perhaps George Sency became unconscious for a while ; 
 he tells us nothing of detail . . . the bullets were flying 
 both ways. 
 
 ******* 
 
 At dawn four men came. They lifted Sency to a 
 stretcher and bore him away. 
 
 ******* 
 
 At sunrise came other men, but these bore no one 
 away. They buried the soldier, and another body at the 
 soldier's feet. And then Joe Lewis stood alone, weeping 
 bitterly.
 
 NEW POPULAR EDITIONS OF 
 
 TO HAVE AND TO HOLD 
 
 It was something new and startling to see an au- 
 thor's first novel sell up into the hundreds of thou- 
 sands, as did this one. The ablest critics spoke of 
 it in such terms as " Breathless interest," The high 
 water mark of American fiction since Uncle Tom's 
 Cabin," " Surpasses all," " Without a rival," " Ten- 
 der and delicate," " As good a story of adventure as 
 one can find," " The best style of love story, clean, 
 pure and wholesome." 
 AUDREY 
 
 With the brilliant imagination and the splendid 
 courage of youth, she has stormed the very citadel 
 of adventure. Indeed it would be impossible to 
 carry the romantic spirit any deeper into fiction. 
 Agnes Repplier* 
 
 PRISONERS OF HOPE 
 
 Pronounced by the critics classical, accurate, inter- 
 esting, American, original, vigorous, full of move- 
 ment and life, dramatic and fascinating, instinct with 
 life and passion, and preserving throughout a singu- 
 larly even level ot excellence. 
 
 Each volume handsomely bound in cloth. Large 
 12 mo. size. Price, 75 cents per volume, postpaid. 
 
 GEOSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS 
 52 DUANE STREET :: NEW YORK
 
 FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS 
 IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS 
 
 Re-issues of the greaOiterary successes of the time. Library 
 size. Printed on excellent paper most of them with illustra- 
 tions of marked beauty and handsomely bound in cloth. 
 Price, 75 cents a volume, postpaid. 
 
 BEVERLY OF GRAUSTARK. By George Barr McCut- 
 cheon. With Color Frontispiece and other illustrations 
 by Harrison Fisher. Beautiful inlay picture in colors of 
 Beverly on the cover. 
 
 " The most fascinating, engrossing and picturesque of the season's 
 novels." Boston Herald. "'Beverly' is altogether charming al- 
 most living flesh and blood." Louisville Times. " Better than 
 1 Graustark '"Mail and Express. " A sequel quite as impossible 
 as ' Graustark ' and quite as entertaining." Bookman. " A charm- 
 ing love story well told." Boston Transcript, 
 
 HALF A ROGUE. By Harold MacGrath. With illustra- 
 tions and inlay cover picture by Harrison Fisher. 
 " Here are dexterity of plot, glancing play at witty talk, characters 
 really human and humanly real, spirit and gladness, freshness and 
 quick movement. ' Half a Rogue ' is as brisk as a horseback ride on 
 a glorious morning. It is as varied as an April day. It is as charming 
 as two most charming girls can make it. Love and honor and suc- 
 cess and all the great things worth fighting for and living for the in- 
 volved in ' Half a Rogue.' " Phila. Press. 
 
 THE GIRL FROM TIM'S PLACE. By Charles Clark 
 
 Munn. With illustrations by Frank T. Merrill. 
 " Figuring in the pages of this story there are several strong char- 
 acters. Typical New England folk and an especially sturdy one, old 
 Cy Walker, through whose instrumentality Chip comes to happiness 
 and fortune. There is a chain of comedy, tragedy, pathos and love, 
 which makes a dramatic story." Boston Herald. 
 
 THE LION AND THE MOUSE. A story of American Life. 
 By Charles Klein, and Arthur Hornblow. With illustra- 
 tions by Stuart Travis, and Scenes from the Play. 
 The novel duplicated the success of the play; in fact the book is 
 greater than the play. A portentous clash of dominant personalties 
 that form the essence of the play are necessarily touched upon but 
 briefly in the short space of four acts. All this is narrated in the 
 novel with a wealth of fascinating and absorbing detail, making it one 
 of the most powerfully written and exciting works of fiction given to 
 the world in years. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, - NEW YORK
 
 FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS 
 IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS 
 
 Re-Usues of the great literary successes of the time. Library 
 size. Printed on excellent paper most of them with illustra- 
 tions of marked beauty and handsomely bound in cloth. 
 Price, 75 cents a volume, postpaid. 
 
 BARBARA WINSLOW, REBEL. By Elizabeth Ellis. 
 
 With illustrations by John Rae, and colored inlay cover. 
 The following, taken from story, will best describe the heroine : 
 A TOAST: " To the bravest comrade in misfortune, the sweetest 
 companion in peace and at all times the most courageous of women." 
 Barbara Winslow. " A romantic story, buoyant, eventful, and in 
 matters of love exactly what the heart could desire. "New York Sun. 
 
 SUSAN. By Ernest Oldmeadow. With a color frontispiece 
 
 by Frank Haviland. Medalion in color on front cover. 
 Lord Ruddington falls helplessly in love with Miss Langley, whom 
 he sees in one of her walks accompanied by her maid, Susan. 
 Through a misapprehension of personalities his lordship addresses 
 a love missive to the maid. Susan accepts in perfect good faith, 
 and an epistolary love-making goes on till they are disillusioned. It 
 naturally makes a droll and delightful little comedy ; and is a story 
 that is particularly clever in the telling. 
 
 WHEN PATTY WENT TO COLLEGE. By Jean Web- 
 
 ster. With illustrations by C. D. Williams. 
 "The book is a treasure." Chicago Daily News. "Bright, 
 whimsical, and thoroughly entertaining. " Buffalo Express. " One 
 of the best stories of life in a girl's college that has ever been writ- 
 ten." N. Y. Press. " To any woman who has enjoyed the pleasures 
 of a college life this book cannot fail to bring back many sweet recol- 
 lections ; and to those who have not been to college the wit, lightness, 
 and charm of Patty are sure to be no less delightful. "Public Opinion. 
 
 THE MASQUE RADER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. 
 
 With illustrations by Clarence F. Underwood. 
 " You can't drop it till you have turned the last page." Cleveland 
 Leader. " Its very audacity of motive, of execution, of solution, al- 
 most takes one's breath away. The boldness of its denouement 
 is sublime." Boston Transcript. " The literary hit of a generation. 
 The best of it is the story deserves all its success. A masterly story." 
 St. Louis Dispatch. " The story is ingeniously told, and cleverly 
 constructed." The Dial. 
 
 THE GAMBLER. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. With 
 
 illustrations by John Campbell. 
 
 " Tells of a high strung young Irish woman who has a passion for 
 gambling, inherited from a long line of sporting ancestors. She has 
 a high sense of honor, too, and that causes complications. She is a 
 -very human, lovable character, and love saves ner." N. Y. Times. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, - NEW YORK
 
 FAMOUS COPYRIGHT BOOKS 
 IN POPULAR PRICED EDITIONS 
 
 Re-issues of the great literary successes of the time. Library 
 size. Printed on excellent paper most of them with illustra- 
 tions of marked beauty and handsomely bound in cloth. 
 Price, 75 cents a volume, postpaid. 
 
 THE AFFAIR AT THE INN. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. 
 
 With illustrations by Martin Justice. 
 
 " As superlatively clever in the writing as it is entertaining in the 
 reading. It is actual comedy of the most artistic sort, and it is 
 handled with a freshness and originality that is unquestionably 
 novel." Boston Transcript. " A feast of humor and good cheer, 
 yet subtly pervaded by special shades of feeling, fancy, tenderness, 
 or whimsicality. A merry thing in prose." St. Louis Democrat. 
 
 ROSE O' THE RIVER. By Kate Douglas Wiggin. With 
 
 illustrations by George Wright. 
 
 " ' Rose o' the River,' a charming bit of sentiment, gracefully 
 written and deftly touched with a gentle humor. It is a dainty book 
 daintily illustrated." New York Tribune. "A wholesome, bright, 
 refreshing story, an ideal book to give a young girl." Chicago 
 Record-Herald. " An idyllic story, replete with pathos and inimita- 
 ble humor. As story-telling it is perfection, and as portrait-painting 
 it is true to the \\iQ.-London Mail. 
 
 TILLIE : A Mennonite Maid. By Helen R. Martin. With 
 
 illustrations by Florence Scovel Shinn. 
 
 The little " Mennonite Maid " who wanders through these pages 
 is something quite new in fiction. Tillie is hungry for books and 
 beauty and love ; and she comes into her inheritance at the end. 
 " Tillie is faulty, sensitive, big-hearted, eminently human, and first, 
 last and always lovable. Her charm glows warmly, the story is well 
 handled, the characters skilfully developed." The Book Buyer. 
 
 LADY ROSE'S DAUGHTER. By Mrs. Humphry Ward. 
 
 With illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy. 
 "The most marvellous work of its wonderful author." New York 
 World. "We touch regions and attain altitudes which it is not given 
 to the ordinary novelist even to approach." London Times. "In 
 no other story has Mrs. Ward approached the brilliancy and vivacity 
 of Lady Rose's Daughter." North American Review. 
 
 THE BANKER AND THE BEAR. By Henry K. Webster. 
 " An exciting and absorbing story." New York Times. "Intense- 
 ly thrilling in parts, but an unusually good story all through. There 
 is a love affair of real charm and most novel surroundings, there is a 
 run on the bank which is almost worth a year's growth, and there is 
 all manner of exhilarating men and deeds which should bring the 
 book into high and permanent favor." Chicago Evening Post. 
 
 GROSSET & DUNLAP, - NEW YORK
 
 in ii ii 1111 1111 linn 
 A 001411571 1